VOA [Voice of America] Africa : June 15, 2018 11:00PM-12:00AM EDT
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VOA [Voice of America] Africa : June 15, 2018 11:00PM-12:00AM EDT
- Publication date
- 2018-06-16
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- VOA [Voice of America] Africa
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Closed captions transcript:
00:00:00
Parents right now they are
separated this is V.O.A.
00:00:05
News Muslims around the world are celebrating
it all fit or the holiday that marks
00:00:11
the end of the Ramadan holy month the
holiday is the culmination of the Ramadan
00:00:17
season when devout Muslims fast from
sunrise to sunset for the whole month oh
00:00:23
oh I. Found the people gathered angas
the near the border with Israel for
00:00:30
prayer on the 1st day of the evolved fitter
festival in Afghanistan President Asra
00:00:37
Ghani touted
00:00:38
a 3 day ceasefire with the tali Bonn and
an address to the nation to mark the
00:00:43
holiday the ceasefire last through
Sunday however Ghani appealed for
00:00:48
a lengthier ceasefire in called again for
the Taliban to come to the negotiating
00:00:53
table president Gandhi on Friday also
telephone leaders in neighboring Pakistan to
00:00:58
confirm that
00:00:59
a drone attack by the US This past week
and an eastern Afghan border region had
00:01:05
killed the leader of the outlawed
Pakistan Tali Mon The confirmation came
00:01:09
a day after a US official speaking on
condition of anonymity told V.O.A.
00:01:14
The drone strike eliminated moola Boston
law. The trumpet ministration has
00:01:20
announced
00:01:20
a 25 percent tariff on up to $50000000000.00
worth of Chinese imports into the U.S.
00:01:27
And China has retaliated with $50000000000.00
in its own tariffs A.P.'s Mike
00:01:33
Hampton reports P N C Financial
Services Group senior account I'm
00:01:38
a spot Adams says this is not
00:01:40
a trade war but trade friction between the
world's 2 largest economies the risk of
00:01:45
a trade war is probably still low although
the impact would be large Adam says
00:01:50
financial markets which were rattled when
China announced its retaliation will
00:01:55
continue to be up and down it creates
00:01:58
a little more uncertainty for financial
markets President Trump has vowed to crack
00:02:03
down on what he believes are China's
unfair trade practices and efforts to
00:02:07
undermine U.S. Technology and entail
actual property my camp in Washington U.S.
00:02:13
Astronaut Peggy Whitson who has spent more
time in space than any other American
00:02:18
retired on Friday during her career she
logged 665 days in space over 3 separate
00:02:24
missions president trouble
honored her accomplishment in
00:02:27
a parole last year Dr Watson I just
congratulations amazing what an amazing
00:02:34
thing that you've done everybody here I
know your family but everybody here is
00:02:39
incredibly proud of of the record you just
broke I hope that every young American
00:02:42
watching today finds in your example
00:02:45
a reason to love space and think about space
because many great things are going to
00:02:49
come out tremendous discoveries in
medicine and so many other fields that as
00:02:54
President Trump and I'm Steve
Norman in Washington. That's the
00:03:01
latest world news from B O A.
00:03:09
From Washington V.O.A.
00:03:11
Presents issues in the news. On the
panel this week Michael Williams C.B.S.
00:03:18
Re. Audio contributor in Washington and
Tracy Wilkinson staff writer for The Los
00:03:22
Angeles Times our moderator is the White
House correspondent for West Wing reports
00:03:27
Paul Brandeis Hello thank you for joining
us and here are the issues history in
00:03:34
Singapore where President Donald Trump
and North Korean leader Kim Jong what
00:03:40
resulted in what happens next in the
United States the fight over immigration
00:03:46
continues and there has been another round
of political primaries here what do the
00:03:52
results suggest about both the big November
midterm elections and the political
00:03:57
outlook for President Trump
himself and finally and on
00:04:02
a sad note we'll pay tribute to
00:04:04
a longtime panelist on this program our
dear friend or in Doral We regret to
00:04:10
announce that or and has passed away and
we're going to dedicate this program to
00:04:14
him in fact so let's start
with the week's big story
00:04:19
a giant story in fact President Trump and
North Korea's Kim Jong un meeting in
00:04:24
Singapore just these images of these
2 men shaking hands just absolutely
00:04:30
stunning no sitting president Tracy
has ever met any leader of North
00:04:37
Korea but what actually came of their meeting
Yes that's correct those images were
00:04:42
startling the flags the North Korean
flag on the same level with the U.S.
00:04:46
Flag no previous president
sitting president has met with
00:04:50
a North Korean leader they've refused to
generally I mean North Korea has wanted
00:04:54
this for
00:04:54
a long time past American presidents felt
like it would be rewarding that government
00:05:00
to sit down with
00:05:02
a leader before there were you know serious
steps towards controlling the nuclear
00:05:07
program but trying to decided to go the
other way President Trump and what came of
00:05:12
it in the end after all of the fanfare was
00:05:15
a pretty. Limited and vague
agreement for points in which
00:05:22
they rehash the same goals that
have been at the center of previous
00:05:29
agreements between the United States or
the West and North Korea and that have
00:05:33
ultimately collapsed every time the Americans
say that the North Koreans routinely
00:05:38
cheat on these agreements and so there are
00:05:41
a lot of doubts about how far this one
will go it states that they will agree on
00:05:47
forming a new relationship
between the 2 countries
00:05:50
a lasting and stable peace on the peninsula
which I think alludes to the fact that
00:05:56
you know formally the United States and
North Korea are still at war and North
00:06:01
Korea commits to what they called in the
document A complete the nuclearization
00:06:05
omitting the standard mantra
really of the United States
00:06:09
a verifiable and irreversible denuclearization
secretive state Pompei all insists
00:06:15
that is part of the understanding but the
words are not there and then finally
00:06:19
repatriation of remains of American soldiers
who were killed in the war which again
00:06:24
is
00:06:24
a program that has gone off and on for decades
and the next step is Pompei always going
00:06:30
to have to do
00:06:30
a lot of hard work for weeks and months and
perhaps years to get some details meat
00:06:37
on the bones as everyone says to to get
actual steps of how North Korea will 1st of
00:06:44
all acknowledge what it has in terms of
its arsenal and then open up to invest to
00:06:50
inspectors start dismantling and then how
that will be verified over the years if
00:06:55
indeed the negotiations go as as the United
States wants them to you know Michael
00:07:02
Tracey Briggs up
00:07:02
a good point that these North Koreans have
made promises like this in the past of
00:07:08
going back to at the 1992 or so have
never kept their word the question is
00:07:14
why should we believe them now there's
no there. To that question there is
00:07:19
a obviously
00:07:20
a confidence that President Trump has in
his ability to cajole coerce maybe even
00:07:27
seduce some of these these leaders on the
world stage and let the promises that
00:07:32
came out of his as you said are very vague
more akin to something that comes out of
00:07:36
maybe sort of couples therapy then you
know an international international summit
00:07:40
it's like you know I agree to listen I agree
to talk and be better it's there's not
00:07:45
very much meat on the bones as you allude
to so yes given the past track record we
00:07:49
can probably predict that there will be at
least some twists and turns and probably
00:07:53
some backtracking on some of the expectations
that aren't specifically put down on
00:07:59
a piece of paper that you have my camp
00:08:01
a right now is the CIA director you also
have John Bolton who's behind this the
00:08:04
secretary of state sector former CIA director
former CIA director sees me you have
00:08:10
a team of people who isn't necessarily on
the same page and even during this summit
00:08:14
you had President Trump putting things on
the table that have never been put on the
00:08:17
table even in talking about these types
of negotiations in terms of pulling back
00:08:21
from military exercises this was
00:08:23
a surprise to the South Koreans and even
to the American delegation nobody knew
00:08:28
that he was going to say that so the
unpredictable nature of the Trump
00:08:31
administration makes it all the more likely
that something is going to happen that
00:08:37
that pulls the North Koreans back from any
commitment that they've made so kind of
00:08:41
a cavalier approach short of vague results
from this you know you're going to have
00:08:48
yet no what's interesting about the the
halting of the military at exercises is
00:08:53
that Trump use words that are used by the
North Koreans to describe those exercises
00:08:59
provocative war games you know that is the
lexicon of North Korea and China and so
00:09:04
there's
00:09:04
a lot of suspicion that maybe this was
planted by the Chinese this idea it was
00:09:11
stunning as you say to even to to
00:09:14
a lot of the Pentagon was surprised by this
I think Trump and his supporters. Would
00:09:18
say you know explaining how vague this
initial agreement is we'll say well it's
00:09:23
just the beginning you know there's
a long process which is fine
00:09:26
a good point but then you don't declare
that the North Korean nuclear threat is
00:09:30
over as President Trump has also done well
you can't declare that it's over either
00:09:35
because the in this was sort of where these
comparisons with the Iran deal that he
00:09:41
walked away from come in at least
with Iran they agreed to reduce
00:09:47
their uranium enrichment by something like
98 percent and keep it at levels well
00:09:53
below bomb grade I don't want to get into
the technical weeds here but also they
00:09:57
agreed to stop producing plutonium I mean
really hard core things like that there's
00:10:02
been no talk of anything like this with
these North Koreans right so we're
00:10:06
a long way from what Trump calls
00:10:09
a denuclearization Yeah and key
difference is Iran actually didn't have
00:10:13
a nuclear bomb or nuclear warheads and
it's estimated that Kim probably has up to
00:10:18
60 so it's
00:10:19
a huge huge difference and on this one
thing let me ask you both this this even
00:10:24
term denuclearization means different
things to different people I think this is
00:10:30
really important thing that people
aren't focusing on too when we say did
00:10:36
nuclearization from the American standpoint
we mean North Korea is going to get rid
00:10:41
of their nuclear weapons that's not what
it means in North Korea right in North
00:10:46
Korea it means ending our nuclear guarantees
security guarantees of South Korea
00:10:52
right we can't even agree on what the
term means so how do you come up with
00:10:56
a deal when you can't even agree on what
the basic terms Well you talk it out and
00:11:01
this is where it extended diplomacy comes
that there needs to be an extended round
00:11:05
of talk after talk after talk and kneeling
down these types of points these are and
00:11:10
you say you don't want to get into the
weeds but this is what it has to happen
00:11:13
there are many many weeds it's
00:11:14
a field of weeds out there between where
we stand now and what anybody calls did.
00:11:18
Clear is ation So having competent
people that are willing to do this over
00:11:23
a long period of time is essential we don't
know who those people are we don't know
00:11:26
who the P.R.C.
00:11:28
On the other side who the contact point on
the North Korean side who is that person
00:11:32
are they of it's the same mind as the
people that we have on our side beginning
00:11:36
with Mike Pompei Oh it's
00:11:37
a very good question what is denuclearization
The other thing that helped me
00:11:42
understand this Tracy is that there was
it's not just nuclear weapons that they
00:11:47
have it's believed that they
also have this very robust
00:11:50
a chemical weapons capacity a
biological weapons capacity and
00:11:55
a kind of connect the dots here having
some of their chemical weapons wound up in
00:11:59
the hands of Bashar al Assad in Syria no
talk about their chemical and biological
00:12:05
weapons which are clear and present
danger is well thought to have quite an
00:12:09
extensive chemical and biological weapons
arsenal which is again why the key you
00:12:16
know building foundation in all of this
is for North Korea to declare what it has
00:12:22
because the West does not know we do not
know all that he has and not only has have
00:12:27
from these weapons shown up in Syria you
know he's used nerve agents to kill his
00:12:32
brother in law his half brother sorry in
in Malaysia so here port at the airport so
00:12:37
yes this stuff has shown up in many places
and we're not even beginning to talk
00:12:42
about human rights and his his use of weapons
on his own people his own families so
00:12:48
there's a lot there yet the difference
one difference is perhaps that this is
00:12:53
a new younger leader who is interested
he's pretty confident now he's got
00:12:57
a nuclear arsenal he can now look to other
improvements in his country's economy
00:13:03
he's certainly gotten the international
recognition he was hoping for it's no can
00:13:07
no longer talk about an isolated remote
unknown regime I mean this is now. In his
00:13:14
eyes and I think he's got you
know reason to think this is
00:13:16
a recognized nuclear
power. Well that alone was
00:13:19
a huge concession is that fair to say yes
huge concession from the president make
00:13:24
again what What lesson does this really
give to people on the world stage if you're
00:13:28
trying to get countries
not to start and complete
00:13:31
a nuclear program what it does it's
00:13:32
a big advertisements for he of starting in
creating. A nuclear program this is how
00:13:38
you get into the club and that's was the
the whole point part and parcel aside from
00:13:44
his own internal security for this regime
for is to be on that stage you know that
00:13:50
if you are a nuclear player you get to
00:13:52
a certain point and that's just been
justified by this got now F.D.R.
00:13:56
Once said and I love this quote he said
that about Yalta it is permitted in time of
00:14:00
green danger grave danger to walk with the
devil until you've crossed the bridge
00:14:05
and there's another one says He who
dined with the devil had better have
00:14:09
a long spoon and I think that President
Trump would be well advised to think about
00:14:15
those things I know that he likes to get
into these relationships with what would
00:14:20
everyone would say are sort of dodgy
characters and he feels that he can hold his
00:14:24
own with them that he has a way to build
00:14:26
a personal rapport with these
people but I think that there's
00:14:29
a difference between an understanding of
money and deal making an understanding of
00:14:33
power and influence of these people are
very very practiced in the art of power and
00:14:38
influence and I hope that we have the people
advising the president who understand
00:14:42
the mindset of these debts Bartok
leaders and allow us not to end up in
00:14:47
a situation where you're worse off than
when you started but you just sum up here
00:14:50
before we go on with they still have their
nuclear weapons and Secretary of State
00:14:55
pump AOE says it's his goal that they can
get rid of these Dorthy Korean weapons
00:15:01
in what 2 and a half years so in
other words it's all very vegged got
00:15:05
a long way to go
00:15:06
a long way to go I guess the most positive
thing we can say is that we are we have
00:15:11
stepped back from what many thought was
the brink of war with the inflamed
00:15:15
inflammatory rhetoric coming from both Kim
enter. And we have backed off of that so
00:15:20
I think there is less of a of
00:15:22
a threat of war right now all that that an
intern of itself I think is some amount
00:15:27
of progress well let's pause for
00:15:29
a short break here more
issues in the news in just
00:15:31
a moment. You're listening to issues
in the news on The Voice of America in
00:15:36
Washington if you would like to download
the program from i Tunes It's free just
00:15:41
click on the i Tunes tab
on our website at V.O.A.
00:15:43
News dot com And don't forget to like us
on Facebook current affairs with Carol
00:15:49
Katz D.L. Now back to our
panel Michael Williams C.B.S.
00:15:53
Radio contributor in Washington and Tracy
Wilkinson staff writer for The Los
00:15:58
Angeles Times
00:15:59
a moderator is Paul BRANDIS The White House
correspondent for West Wing reports.
00:16:05
Welcome back one of the biggest issues
here in the United States today is
00:16:10
immigration who can enter this country
members of their family and what do we do
00:16:15
with those who arrive without documentation
in other words so-called illegal
00:16:21
immigrants Michel there's this bill that
is working its way through Congress now
00:16:27
that sort of looks to be
00:16:29
a compromise between the conservative and
the moderate faction of the Republican
00:16:35
Party it would do it it looks like would
make pretty sweeping changes to our
00:16:40
immigration system tells briefly what what
is in the bill and what would it do for
00:16:46
immigrants trying to come here well life
or to deal with the dreamers the ideology
00:16:51
of the Trump administration blocking
all immigration at this point who are
00:16:55
basically against any
immigration at all it's
00:16:57
a Phil even legal even illegal
immigration and this is
00:17:00
a philosophical point that got President
Trump elected let's make no bones about it
00:17:03
this is
00:17:04
a feeling that goes throughout the country
so it's about making an established set
00:17:08
of rules that is fair and open and honest
and allows immigration to happen in the
00:17:13
spirit of the American promise allowing
people to come across the border in
00:17:17
reasonable numb. And we have
00:17:19
a situation now where we have the trump
administration and Jeff Sessions say that
00:17:24
issues like gang violence and issues like
domestic abuse which were previously
00:17:29
grounds for asylum in the United States
these are no longer grounds according to
00:17:33
a ruling that was made in addition to
having those rulings that he's also
00:17:40
invoking the Bible as
00:17:42
a reason for taking young children away
from their mother separating family
00:17:46
families aside from the moral issues it
creates tremendous logistical problem in
00:17:50
the sense that in each one of these families
are separated it creates an individual
00:17:55
case sometimes for parents and children
sometimes for each individual parent and
00:17:59
each individual child it's a completely
just go nightmare and in addition to being
00:18:05
a moral I think a moral outrage was
going to bring that up in just
00:18:08
a minute but let's just let's talk
about this issue Tracey of it's
00:18:13
a big controversy here where federal agents
all along our border with Mexico people
00:18:20
who are trying to commit to the country
without documentation these agents are now
00:18:24
taking children sometimes as young
as one year old 52 weeks old
00:18:31
taking them away from their mothers and
fathers putting them in an entirely
00:18:36
different location now the White House says
well we're just in forcing the law but
00:18:41
this actually isn't the Law No it's not
the law on and at one point I believe
00:18:46
President Trump tried to say well it's the
Democrats who created this which is just
00:18:50
not at all the case this is the result
of the trumpet ministration 0 tolerance
00:18:55
so-called policy and yes some of these
children are toddlers reportedly hundreds
00:19:01
have been they've lost
track of them we've seen
00:19:03
a ports of parents being deported and sent
back to usually Central America without
00:19:09
their children and they have to work to
find their children to be to be reunited
00:19:13
with them so I can only imagine the the
trauma of that this is one for. Each year
00:19:18
that has unusually united some
conservatives and liberals Democrats and
00:19:25
Republicans there's not
00:19:26
a lot of support for tearing children
from their parents and even some of the
00:19:30
convicted conservative evangelical groups
Catholic groups have come out against
00:19:35
this and I think that is what is going to
finally get the administration to maybe
00:19:40
back down
00:19:41
a little bit on this this is this compromise
bill that you mentioned is one way to
00:19:45
do away with that aspect but the bill
also includes massive funding for
00:19:50
a border wall which most experts on the
border don't think will have much of an
00:19:55
impact on security yet you know Trump
campaigned on it and and just the general
00:20:00
effort to reduce all immigration
which I think a lot of
00:20:04
a lot of Democrats and some others have
have trouble with and the other issue about
00:20:09
immigration by the way to kind
of go off a little bit of
00:20:11
a tangent here is that we have huge labor
shortages in this country and yet you
00:20:16
have the administration trying to crack
down even on legal immigrants sometimes
00:20:21
it's hard to connect the dots on
some of these things if we had
00:20:23
a reasonable governing center you know in
our legislative body you would be able to
00:20:27
look at this as a policy issue and come
to reasonable conclusions about not only
00:20:32
a immigration policy but about guest worker
policies this is an issue in terms of
00:20:37
labor it's
00:20:38
a huge issue for business and foreign
national economy everyone knows that this
00:20:43
this labor force is very much needed but
because it's become an ideological issue
00:20:48
you can't get to reasonable solutions it's
there's much more political capital to
00:20:53
be gained from confrontation with the
opposing party than compromise with the
00:20:57
opposing party because some of these
problems simply aren't being solved that we
00:21:01
just continue to talk and argue and are
hiding out in torn areas and they just were
00:21:05
not getting these problems solved well
let's move on here this week there was
00:21:09
a big round of primaries here in the
United States now for our global listeners
00:21:15
political primaries when voters pick the.
Candidates that will appear on the ballot
00:21:20
in November for races like governors and
senators in the House of Representatives
00:21:26
it's sort of like kind of
00:21:27
a weeding out process some of the night who
wants to go 1st here sort of elections
00:21:34
all over the country Michel.
Right or that well I see it as
00:21:41
in these primaries on the
Republican side it's
00:21:43
a test of the power of Trump ism you have
00:21:45
a president who's running somewhere between
70 and 80 percent popularity in his own
00:21:49
party based on which poll you want to
listen to and I'm sure in the White House
00:21:52
it's the 80 percent side so they're there
that if you are going to run as an
00:21:58
incumbent you have to not run on your
voting record it's got not good enough you
00:22:02
have to run on your loyalty and fealty to
the president of the United States and if
00:22:07
you do not display that you will be blowtorch
by his Twitter account and you have
00:22:12
the possibility of losing so that's what
happens on the Republican side on the
00:22:17
Democratic side you have this sort
of referendum that's going on
00:22:21
a Democratic Party between standard Democratic
ideology in terms of policy and the
00:22:26
new progressivism that was ushered in by
Bernie Sanders So that's what's going on
00:22:30
in the 2 party primaries because as you
said each one has their own side and then
00:22:34
those 2 will meet in November the elections
that we got were fascinating but the
00:22:38
winners that we got nothing to tell you
00:22:40
a lot about what is going to happen in
November Tracy did November is still about 5
00:22:45
and a half months off from where we are is
00:22:47
a too early to say what this means about
November how are things looking for each
00:22:52
party in your view in the current political
climate I think yes I think it is too
00:22:57
early because things are changing back and
forth all the time but I think Democrats
00:23:02
who thought they were going to have
an easy time are starting to be
00:23:05
a little more. Chagrined and
are going to have to work
00:23:10
a little harder I do
think you know there was
00:23:13
a lot of talk about this shows that you
can't criticize Trump you'll get lost you
00:23:17
know you'll you'll be forced into into
00:23:19
a loss However let's remember these are the
primaries and traditionally even before
00:23:24
these days primaries tend to go to the
extremes on either party as Michael was
00:23:30
saying and so I think we have
to you know take this with
00:23:33
a grain of salt about what it does tell us
and I think you're still. Well there are
00:23:37
many months yet to to to find out all
right well finally we want to take
00:23:42
a moment to remember
00:23:44
a long time panelist here on
ISSUES in the news or in Doral was
00:23:49
a long time foreign affairs correspondent
for USA Today which is one of the biggest
00:23:54
newspapers here in the United States and
we regret to inform you that Oren has
00:24:01
passed away he was 53 years old he leaves
behind his loving wife Virginia Jenny now
00:24:07
at Doral they had 2 sons Malcolm who was
12 years old and Leo who was 11 years old
00:24:14
Michel you know his wife
said that or it became
00:24:17
a journalist because it made
him feel like he was making
00:24:20
a difference in the world you
knew him pretty well he did make
00:24:24
a difference to me he did make
00:24:25
a difference in the world and he came to
journalism later in life he wasn't like
00:24:29
a cub reporter or anything like that and
I think that the fact that he came to it
00:24:32
as a fully grown man gave him a unique
sense. This is hard it really gave him
00:24:38
a sense of wisdom and calm perspective
that was very unique to his style I never
00:24:44
heard him raise his voice very considered
man he was always interested in the story
00:24:50
he had that natural intellectual curiosity
that every good reporter needs but he
00:24:54
was only interested in the story he was
interested in your story and I think that's
00:24:58
what got him to be so close to the people
he needed to get to to get to the truth
00:25:03
of the matter and also what made him so
easy to connect with so many people he was
00:25:07
interested in you and I
don't think I ever had
00:25:09
a conversation with him the did and with
what we got to get together soon I think
00:25:13
every single conversation I ever
had with him was like that he was
00:25:16
a great journalist a great husband and
father and just a lovely man and just
00:25:22
a general sense trace you know this curiosity
that we all have as journalists were
00:25:27
storytellers we like to go to places that
are sometimes war zones who are disaster
00:25:33
zones to tough on pleasant places. And
tell stories and boy he was really he was
00:25:40
really good at that yes telling stories
telling you know speaking truth to power
00:25:46
which is one of the main things we as
journalists do I think Warren was very good
00:25:51
at that at you know fact checking the
powers that be he would come to the State
00:25:58
Department and you know you wouldn't ask
00:25:59
a question every time as many do but he
would ask smart questions you know really
00:26:05
smart questions when I
would which I rarely do as
00:26:08
a CIO I should ask that you know is that
was that was that good that he would have
00:26:11
really thought out and and yeah and as
Michael said you know he came to journalism
00:26:17
late and I remember that I think his wife
said he really felt like he was finally
00:26:21
in his element and loved what he was doing
now can I just get one thing before Joe
00:26:26
. Audience is my favorite poet and
he wrote a farewell to that B.B.S.
00:26:32
And I just like to share
00:26:33
a part of that poem if I may because we
talk about loss and we talk about death and
00:26:38
tragedy so much on the show but when it
hits home personally it really gives you an
00:26:42
opportunity to feel something and I just
the maybe the stanza can help describe
00:26:46
what we're all feeling in this room but
in the importance and noise of tomorrow
00:26:51
when the brokers are roaring like beasts
on the floor of the Bourse and the poor
00:26:56
have the sufferings to which they are
fairly accustom and each in the cell of
00:27:00
himself is almost convinced of his freedom
00:27:03
a few 1000 will think of
this day as one thinks of
00:27:06
a day when one did something slightly
unusual what instruments we have agree the
00:27:13
day of his death was
00:27:14
a dark cold day I will miss or
interim well as we all will and
00:27:21
he really did make
00:27:22
a difference and would like to extend our
deepest condolences to his wonderful
00:27:28
family he will be missed he's one of those
people who is just irreplaceable I think
00:27:34
we're going to have to end it right there.
Thanks to Tracy Wilkinson of the Los
00:27:39
Angeles Times and Michael
Williams of C.B.S.
00:27:42
News This program was produced by the Voice
of America current affairs air engineer
00:27:48
Justin Thwaites and Brandis have West
Wing Reports thank you for joining us.
00:28:07
From V.O.A.
00:28:09
Science edition of Press
Conference USA here's your host.
00:28:16
Welcome to the science edition of Press
Conference USA on The Voice of America
00:28:21
volcanoes have played
00:28:22
a dominant role in helping shape or
Earth since the world was thought to
00:28:26
a form some 4500000000 years ago violent
volcanic eruptions in the Central American
00:28:32
country of Guatemala and Hawaii's big
island have been grabbing news headlines in
00:28:37
recent weeks the recent eruptions of
Guatemala's volcano have so far taken over 100
00:28:44
lives and left thousands more homeless
00:28:47
a wise killer whale volcano also continues
to wreak devastation and threaten lives
00:28:52
since
00:28:52
a series of violent eruptions began back
in early May according to the Smithsonian
00:28:57
global vulcanism program so far this year
there have been 50 confirmed eruptions
00:29:03
from 49 different volcanoes throughout the
world media reports in recent years have
00:29:08
also spotlighted the possibility of
potentially apocalyptic eruptions of what are
00:29:13
called super volcanoes
00:29:15
a recent study led by researchers at the
University of Illinois at Obama champagne
00:29:20
provide some comfort suggesting
that geological signs indicating
00:29:24
a potentially catastrophic volcanic eruption
would be clear far in advance so today
00:29:30
on this science edition of Press Conference
USA We'll talk about one of the most
00:29:34
destructive forces of nature. Volcano's my
guest for today's program is Dr Charles
00:29:40
Mandeville Ph D.
00:29:42
He's the program coordinator of the
volcano Hazards Program at the U.S.
00:29:47
Geological Survey Dr Mandeville were
are the most active volcanoes on earth
00:29:52
typically the most active volcanoes on
earth for it are going to be around the
00:29:56
Pacific Ring of Fire there's about $1550.00
volcanoes above sea level worldwide
00:30:03
and $955.00 of those are along the Pacific
Rim either in the end leaders and
00:30:10
Central America the northwestern portion
of the United States over to Alaska and
00:30:17
the Aleutian Islands and then over to come
talkin Peninsula and Russia and then the
00:30:22
cure I'll Islands and then the Japanese
island chain and then on into the
00:30:28
Philippines and then on into the Commonwealth
or the Northern Mariana Islands and
00:30:33
then Tonga Kermadec down there New Zealand
we've got at least just in the Pacific
00:30:39
Rim we've got over half of the world back
to volcanoes the others are going to be
00:30:45
in the regions of Italy and Greece
obviously and also the far region of
00:30:52
Africa and the East African rift and then
in the Indian Ocean and then in Indonesia
00:30:58
which has over on the order of about 120
volcano so so if you were to guesstimate
00:31:04
how many active volcanoes exist right now
what would be your guess or what would be
00:31:09
the number that you know 1550 Those are
just the volcanoes above water so long
00:31:16
the world's mid-ocean ridge system see it
literally have problems of volcanoes in
00:31:21
the deep ocean basin that about 2500
meter water depth I'm curious about the
00:31:27
Pacific Ring of Fire Why is that region
more prone to having active volcanoes than
00:31:32
any other places on Earth well pretty much
all along that the. Syphax plate margin
00:31:38
you have the earth recycling some of its
tectonic plates back into the Earth's
00:31:43
mantle and when that happens you're sending
one plate down into the earth's deep
00:31:49
mantle it's
00:31:50
a plate that has altered volcanic rocks in
it that have water bearing minerals that
00:31:56
might contain up to 13 weight percent of
water in them when these water bearing
00:32:01
minerals descend back down into the Earth's
mantle they're actually da hydrating
00:32:07
and decomposing and there fluxing the
Earth's mantle mantle wage that just lies
00:32:14
just above where that plate is going into
the mantle with water and water it's got
00:32:19
a very very interesting property when you
add water to rocks you lower the melting
00:32:25
temperature so it facilitates the melting
of the Earth's mantle and when you melt
00:32:31
the men till you produce basaltic
magma is similar to what's
00:32:35
a rupturing in Hawaii right now that
basalt that magma is hotter and it's less
00:32:41
dense than the surrounding rock so it wants
to rise and it rises and it stages at
00:32:46
various levels in the crust where
it comes to the surface we have
00:32:50
a volcano I'm curious as to what causes
this magma to be produced 1st of all and to
00:32:56
make it so darn hot so as you go down
into the Earth's mantle and actually even
00:33:02
through the earth's crust in
volcanic regions you're dealing with
00:33:06
a gradient That's about 40 degrees
centigrade per kilometer So that's
00:33:10
a lot more like about 70 degrees Fahrenheit
per kilometer so by the time you get
00:33:16
down to the 110 kilometer depth
or relatively 70 mile depth below
00:33:23
the earth's surface it's hot enough to melt
rocks and as I said before when you add
00:33:28
a little bit of water to that mixture from
the that's being liberated from the down
00:33:33
going plate it fits militates melting and.
As we have melt focused underneath the
00:33:39
crust it finds
00:33:40
a way to the surface because it's buoyant
from what you're mentioning there is
00:33:45
a correlation between tectonics and volcanism
very much so so most of the world's
00:33:51
volcanoes that you know are capable of
erupting explosively are what we refer to as
00:33:57
subduction zone volcanoes and these are
places where we're recycling the Earth's
00:34:03
tectonic plates back into the mantle
there's another series of volcanoes though
00:34:08
that don't have anything to do with
recycling of tectonic plates they're fed by
00:34:14
either hot spots in the Earth's deep
mantle such as why or Iceland or
00:34:21
Reunion Island in the Indian
Ocean and Yellowstone is also
00:34:26
a hotspot Well we definitely want
to talk about Yellowstone in
00:34:30
a few minutes when you run down the structure
of a volcano when we're looking at
00:34:34
a volcano Normally we see
00:34:35
a mountain and smoke coming out of
the top of it what makes a volcano
00:34:39
a volcano volcano is any place
on the earth where you have
00:34:43
a vent that he's the middle magnet to the
surface either as lava or as ash and
00:34:49
typically volcanoes come into shapes they
come in the very conical somewhat cement
00:34:56
trickle shape that we're used to if we
look at say Mt Rainier or Mt Hood in
00:35:01
Washington state or Mount Fuji in Japan
and those are alternating sequences of
00:35:08
fragmented told volcanic rocks that you get
from explosive eruptions and also lava
00:35:14
flows that armor those fragments all
rocks and help the volcano be somewhat
00:35:20
resistant to erosion so it's like building
sand castles at the beach you have
00:35:26
explosive eruptions that put eruption
plumes of ash and boulders up into the
00:35:32
atmosphere that material comes down
forms track. Mental deposits that are
00:35:38
concentric Lee located around the vent that
they were dead from and those fragments
00:35:44
old deposits typically can lie at about
$25.00 to $30.00 degrees similar to
00:35:50
building
00:35:50
a sandcastle at the beach with dry sand
and then occasionally the volcano will go
00:35:56
into an alternate mode
of eruption and produce
00:35:59
a lava flows and the lava flows cover
these fragments all rocks and essentially
00:36:05
armor the volcano and make it more resistant
to erosion so what we refer to as
00:36:11
strata volcanoes are typically alternating
layers of lava flows and fragment gold
00:36:18
deposits from explosive
eruption that have built
00:36:21
a cone. Now in the case of the big
island of Hawaii we have what's known as
00:36:27
a shield fall Kaino and shield volcanoes
tend to be very very broad very
00:36:34
very low profile mountains but they're
enormous In other words if you think of the
00:36:39
big island of Hawaii coming out from the
ocean floor at 6 kilometers down and then
00:36:45
extending for another 4.4 kilometers above
sea level it's the biggest mountain on
00:36:51
Earth finally causes a volcano to blast
finally erupt I've seen OK Janelle's were
00:36:58
a volcano is seen smoking in that is like
the stirring up inside that's crater what
00:37:03
finally triggers it to erupt the main thing
is to have any kind of eruption we have
00:37:09
to have
00:37:09
a system that is pressurized at depth and
it's usually gas saturated magma that is
00:37:16
more buoyant than its surroundings that
it's temporarily held in place in some type
00:37:22
of subterranean storage area or magma
chamber but eventually the pressure will
00:37:28
build to
00:37:28
a point where the container breaks and
when the container breaks the magma will
00:37:32
find its way to the surface either as
00:37:35
a lava form. Interruption if for instance
the magma that's erupted allows the gases
00:37:41
to pass through it rather easily although
as you increase the silica content of
00:37:47
a magma it becomes more viscous and it's
much less passive to gas moving through it
00:37:54
in other words and the only way to get the
gas out of the magma is actually for it
00:37:59
to explode you mentioned magma you mentioned
silica there so my next question is
00:38:04
what is the composition of volcanic material
I know you have magma and do you also
00:38:10
have ash rocks things like that one of
the composition of these materials OK So
00:38:16
typically a volcano that's erupting
in Hawaii will be a rock salt like
00:38:21
a lava and that
00:38:23
a lot of A with about say 50
percent to maybe 12 percent iron
00:38:29
oxide maybe 3 or 4 percent
titanium oxide maybe 12 to
00:38:36
14 percent aluminum maybe 6 percent
magnesium oxide and maybe on the order of 2
00:38:43
percent sodium and potassium combined and
then the other thing that these magnets
00:38:49
have within them is dissolved gases
countdowns like sulfur chlorine C O 2
00:38:55
and water when we're talking about the gas
coming out of the volcano How dangerous
00:39:01
is this volcanic gas it can be for instance
in the case of Hawaii we have sulfur
00:39:06
dioxide being emitted You also have C O
2 that is being emitted and literally
00:39:13
at the fissure vents the gases are coming
out at roughly 2100 degrees Fahrenheit so
00:39:20
not only are they poisonous they're at
extremely high temperature so being exposed
00:39:26
to them is not
00:39:27
a good idea since we've made the connection
between volcanic eruption and tectonic
00:39:32
activity in other words to volcanic
eruptions cause earthquakes. Vice versa
00:39:37
earthquakes causing volcanic
eruptions there's been only
00:39:41
a few cases where you can cite large magnitude
earthquake as having possibly driven
00:39:47
a volcano into eruption and by this
I mean like the 1960 eruption of
00:39:53
Cotopaxi volcano it literally had
00:39:56
a magnitude 8 earthquake almost directly
below it summit however one of the
00:40:03
things that has to happen for
00:40:05
a volcanic eruption to occurs whenever you
break rocks in the subsurface to move
00:40:11
magma you're generating
00:40:13
a lot of smaller earthquakes and sends the
magma moves to the surface and if you
00:40:18
have sensitive seismometers
distributed say within
00:40:22
a 15 mile radius of the volcano summit
you'll record all those small magnitude
00:40:28
earthquake so usually smaller than
magnitude 2 but they tell us something is
00:40:33
happening at the subsurface beneath that
volcano and at such an increase in the
00:40:39
number of small magnitude earthquake
spinny so volcano is often a Herald that
00:40:45
a volcanic eruption you know might
be coming in the future let's take
00:40:49
a break now you're listening to the science
edition of Press Conference USA on The
00:40:54
Voice of America I'm your host Rick Panta
Lael Today we're talking about one of the
00:40:59
most destructive forces of
nature volcanoes this is
00:41:03
a reminder of that press conference USA
is available for free download from our
00:41:08
website at V.O.A. News dot com slash P.C.
00:41:11
USA or you can download it from i Tunes We
hope you'll give in touch with us either
00:41:17
through Facebook and Twitter
at Carol Castillo V.O.A.
00:41:20
Or by sending us an old fashioned
email to P.C. USA at V.O.A.
00:41:25
News dot com Now back to our guest
Dr Charles Mandeville Ph D.
00:41:30
He's the program coordinator of the
volcano Hazards Program at the U.S.
00:41:35
Geological Survey. Charles eruptions
predictable Fortunately we've gotten
00:41:41
much better at predicting eruptions for the
simple reason we've gotten much better
00:41:47
at instrumenting volcanoes not just with
seismometers but other instruments like
00:41:52
continuous G.P.S.
00:41:54
Receivers tilt meters that can tell
00:41:57
a change in slope on the volcano with
an amount that's maybe 11000th of
00:42:03
a degree and we also have
00:42:07
a whole new generation of satellites up in
the sky that can tell us when the ground
00:42:11
at
00:42:12
a particular volcano is swelling and it's
literally inflating because the magma chamber
00:42:18
system beneath the volcano is being
pressurized with gas and supply of new magma.
00:42:26
What's really transformed volcano monitoring
in the past 20 years and certainly
00:42:32
within the past 10 is the fact that we
can have multiple real time data streams
00:42:38
coming in on
00:42:39
a volcano from ground based instruments as
well as satellite based instruments such
00:42:45
that we can see eruption precursors those
eruption precursors consist of changes in
00:42:51
gas emission changes in ground water
chemistry if we've been sampling the ground
00:42:57
waters at the volcano on
00:42:59
a regular basis increases in the number of
small magnitude earthquake spin eat the
00:43:05
summit or nearby changes in slope on the
volcano that we can detect with both
00:43:11
continuous G.P.S.
00:43:12
Instruments and killed meters and looking
at satellite imagery for hot pixels in
00:43:19
other words gases are often some of the
1st things released as the magma is
00:43:25
transiting in the crust and the gases
because they've been in contact with the
00:43:30
magma are pretty much at the same temperature
and they will find cracks and zones
00:43:36
of weak. Notice to the surface because
they're the most buoyant and mobile
00:43:40
component that the magma is bringing towards
the surface of the earth so if we look
00:43:46
at satellites that give us infrared
images and we look at infrared data from
00:43:51
satellites at night when there's
00:43:53
a low background we can tell subtle thermal
anomalies associated with where new
00:44:00
hot gases are coming to the surface we're
also fortunate in that many of the
00:44:05
volcanoes and particularly the picturesque
ones in Alaska in the Pacific Northwest
00:44:11
and in the Andes have some of glaciers when
these gases are escaping to the surface
00:44:16
still form new cracks in Summit glaciers
that have opened and typically when you
00:44:22
see the cracks forming in the summit glacier
followed by emission of volcanic gases
00:44:28
that we can measure either from
helicopters or fixed wing aircraft or
00:44:33
a whole new generation of multi gas
sensors we can get a real time change and
00:44:39
a measurement of what the
volcano is doing so there are
00:44:42
a number of precursors
that typically happen at
00:44:46
a volcano before to Rupp's And fortunately
we know where the volcanoes are curious
00:44:52
about the eruption process itself there
are specific steps or stages associated
00:44:57
with a volcanic eruption
sometimes you'll see
00:45:00
a migration of the small magnitude earthquakes
towards the surface but you've got
00:45:05
to have
00:45:05
a dent seismic network to kind of see that
happen before your eyes but we've we've
00:45:11
done it successfully for instance at Mount
St Helens we've seen it at Mt Etna in
00:45:17
Italy and it really depends how much of
00:45:20
a lead time you get depends on how good
you are in ground monitoring instruments
00:45:25
are but typically you'll see changes in
gas emission you'll see increases in
00:45:30
seismicity and it's also that if you've
got digital broadband seismometers very
00:45:36
high sense. Seismometers as part of your
network There's also information carried
00:45:42
in the frequency content of these small
earthquakes that tells us magma is on the
00:45:48
move does a volcano have
00:45:50
a set supply of Magno or is it constantly
being refresh and matted it's probably
00:45:56
more episodic than anything so we are
looking at the past eruptive histories of
00:46:02
volcanoes that we have worldwide
we definitely know it's not
00:46:06
a constant supply of magma that's
being supplied unless it's
00:46:10
a hot spot volcano like Hawaii typically
what we have is periods of augmented
00:46:16
growth and that volcano SR you where
you might have several eruptions over
00:46:21
a course of say
00:46:22
a few 10 cauldrons of years and then it
goes quiet for for another 10000 years
00:46:30
but then it gets really reactivated some
of our older volcanic centers are on the
00:46:36
order of you know
00:46:37
a 1000000 years old there's have only
been active volcanic centers for
00:46:42
a few 100000 years if that's the case
then I know that magma is stored in huge
00:46:48
chambers beneath the volcano itself so what
happens once all the magma is gone the
00:46:54
volcano is done the right thing what
happens to the volcano then and especially
00:46:58
with these now empty chambers underneath
Well typically when you have chambers that
00:47:03
exceed you know when cubic kilometers and
that these kind of classes of volcanoes
00:47:10
have been referred to as super volcanoes
where you're literally within
00:47:15
a matter of weeks come on empty chamber
that's not dollars and cubic kilometers
00:47:22
and what happens is the crust above this
huge chamber system actually subsides
00:47:29
and so they're actually kind of senator
because when you're looking on the
00:47:33
landscape for
00:47:33
a volcano there's none that are obvious.
Since fact what you've formed is
00:47:38
a caldera and typically for instance the
Yellowstone caldera in the 4 corners
00:47:44
region of the US it actually forms
00:47:47
a caldera that rivals the state of Rhode
Island in terms of area so in other words
00:47:52
if you have a caldera that is a few
monger's size that means that there was
00:47:56
a volcano there that once blasted an
awful lot of magma Yes And another good
00:48:02
example is Long Valley Caldera in California
in the eastern portion of the Sierra
00:48:08
Nevada is just east of the Sierra Nevada
as another example is what is now Crater
00:48:14
Lake in Oregon there you had eruption
not too long ago about 7700 years
00:48:21
ago 50 cubic kilometers of magma
not a super rupture and but still
00:48:26
a very large eruption typically putting
ash out to you know 50 kilometers up into
00:48:33
the stratosphere and certainly would
have had global climate impact
00:48:39
because of the amount of sulfur dioxide
gas that was put up into the stratosphere
00:48:45
during that event there's an important
question I need to ask you and that is what
00:48:49
is the volcanic explosive of the
index or V E I It's kind of
00:48:54
a catchall way to rank volcanoes in
volcanic eruptions and terms of the impacts
00:49:01
that they would have and also
their relative size but it's also
00:49:07
a matter of what kind of fragments were
produced during the eruption in other words
00:49:13
what is the proportion of ash that it
produced versus ballistic fragments that
00:49:18
typically settle half
00:49:20
a kilometer from the vent and it's an
overall measure of how big an eruption
00:49:26
was and how intense it was kind of
00:49:29
a dual classification if you will and I
understand it's 0 through $80.00 through
00:49:35
a system. Thinglike crack
a towel 1903 is a 6 M.
00:49:40
Bore you know is 6 or maybe
00:49:43
a 7 things like Yellowstone and
long valley when they erupt where
00:49:50
water at the end of the scale
and we've been hearing
00:49:52
a lot about killer whale volcano in Hawaii
has been in the news what exactly has
00:49:58
been going on there with his song Keno OK
So killer whale has been an eruption and
00:50:04
killer whale is the youngest volcano that
comprises the big island of Hawaii there
00:50:09
are actually 5 different shields volcanoes
that comprise the big island of Hawaii
00:50:15
kill away is the youngest and it forms the
southeastern portion of the island it's
00:50:20
been erupting since 1903 for over 35 years
now what's changed is the fact that
00:50:26
we've had
00:50:27
a change in the eruptive points from which
kill away is erupting until Of late
00:50:33
April killer whale was
00:50:35
a rupturing from Summit crater at Holly
Maumelle and it was also erupting from
00:50:40
a smaller vent down the rift lower in
elevation towards the northeast called who
00:50:47
and what's changed is we've had
catastrophic draining of the lava lake. As
00:50:54
well as drop in the lava lake at Holly Maui
and kill away as summit and movement of
00:51:00
magma from those 2 events down the rift in
the subsurface to where it's emerged and
00:51:07
created new fissure vents down in the
late Lani subdivision and the Lani Garden
00:51:13
District the lower Poona zone and we've
got now as many as 22 fishers that have
00:51:19
been active many of them sourcing lava
flows that have now reached the ocean and
00:51:24
the other thing that we're seeing is
00:51:26
a killer wave summit has
produced ash plumes at ever
00:51:30
a nice day anywhere from 3000 feet
to as high as 30000 feet. May
00:51:37
16th that 4 15 am in the morning Hawaii
Standard Time and that caused the U.S.G.S.
00:51:43
Hawaii volcano observatory to put out of
Volcano Observatory notice for aviation
00:51:49
because whenever you have
00:51:50
a volcanic vent the emitting ash up to 20
and 30000 feet where commercial airlines
00:51:56
fly we have to get word out to the aviation
sector as well as the general populace
00:52:03
and all the emergency responders and land
managers in the vicinity is it because
00:52:09
the ash that's flying up from the volcano
is so fine that it gets into the
00:52:13
equipment of the of the airplanes the Unlike
their engines and so forth yes you can
00:52:18
actually have volcanic ash which is
largely glass volcanic glass particles
00:52:23
typically less than about 2 millimeters
in size actually played out on the jet
00:52:29
engine turbines and cause
jet engine failure and
00:52:33
a similar incident happened for instance
00:52:35
a 1989 during the eruption of
read out in Alaska where. Flight
00:52:42
747 with 230 people aboard inadvertently
flew into the ash plume from readout
00:52:48
volcano and all 4 engines on that 747
failed and then they had to descend
00:52:55
relatively 16000 feet you know
00:52:59
a matter of minutes just to restart the
engines Fortunately they were able to
00:53:04
restart the engines and land the plane
safely at Anchorage but the plane itself
00:53:10
suffered about $80000000.00 worth
of damage and you can imagine it's
00:53:15
a pretty harrowing
experience when you've got
00:53:18
a 747 that's in glide for 16000
feet and you've got 230 people
00:53:25
aboard and other critical flight instruments
like your altimeter and your airspeed
00:53:30
indicator and your car window are being
sand blasted with volcanic cat. I
00:53:37
understand
00:53:37
a new potentially dangerous issue has been
raised regarding those who live near the
00:53:42
volcano something called vog what is
Wagner Howzat produced by term for what is
00:53:49
often referred to as volcanic smog and
it's really the sulfur dioxide gas that's
00:53:55
being gas from the magma as
it comes to the surface has
00:53:59
a lot of A It's combining with moisture
in the atmosphere to form fine sulphuric
00:54:05
acid aerosol particles so it's forming an
acid vapor and the paper particles are
00:54:11
typically sub micron in size so they're
easily breathed into the lungs and this is
00:54:17
an irritant of the it's an irritant
over the lung tissue and so it's
00:54:22
a health hazard for those who might be
downwind of any fish or event that has
00:54:27
opened the other thing is that depending
on the wind direction it can be blown off
00:54:33
island to the adjacent island of Oahu and
Maui so on days when the Kona winds are
00:54:40
blowing it can be blown you know to the
north to the other volcanic islands of
00:54:45
Hawaii truly we're running out of time but
I did want to step into the issue about
00:54:50
super volcanoes we've been hearing an awful
lot about super volcanoes in the media
00:54:55
I know several science
oriented channels of T.V.
00:54:58
Have run specials about super volcanoes and
we mentioned earlier about Yellowstone
00:55:03
what separates a super volcano from just
00:55:06
a regular volcano the fact that they've in
00:55:09
a single eruption erupted on the order of
00:55:12
a 1000 cubic kilometers of material so it's
literally the size of the eruption that
00:55:18
has been sued from you know an event that
may have taken place over several weeks
00:55:23
to
00:55:23
a month so what's the biggest the Russians
so far probably the one from Coba in Sumatra
00:55:31
in Indonesia that happened about 74000
years ago and it put out. On the order of
00:55:37
3000 cubic kilometers of material
it's a matter of fact there's
00:55:42
a constriction in the human genome right
around and where probably there were less
00:55:47
you know humans on the planet in the
aftermath we were talking about Yellowstone
00:55:52
being predicted to erupt how likely is that
to happen and when is that expected to
00:55:58
erupt well in other words the chances
of another super volcano eruption from
00:56:03
Yellowstone happening are
probably about one in
00:56:06
a few 1000000 because it's the last one was
640000 years ago however Yellowstone is
00:56:12
still powered by the heat from magma and
residual magma that still at depth and we
00:56:18
have active hydrothermal vents and geysers
what is more probable at Yellowstone is
00:56:24
that we have actually steam driven explosions
occurred you know as recently as the
00:56:30
19th thirty's as well as the 18 ninety's
where you can have around several of
00:56:35
hydrothermal pools where you've got hot
water coming to the surface you can
00:56:40
actually have an explosion that can throw
out bread box and refrigerator sized
00:56:45
fragments you know a few 100
meters from the vent and in
00:56:49
a park you know that has over a
1000000 visitors per year that is
00:56:54
a concern for us Dr Charles Mandeville
thank you so much for taking time in the
00:56:59
basically telling us just about everything
we want to know about volcanoes thank
00:57:03
you for having me it's been
00:57:05
a pleasure and I'm afraid that's all the
time we have on this science edition of
00:57:09
Press Conference USA My guest for today's
program was Dr Charles Mandeville the
00:57:14
program coordinator of the volcano
Hazards Program at the U.S.
00:57:18
Geological Survey the science edition of
Press Conference USA was produced in the
00:57:24
V.O.A. Broadcast Center in Washington D.C.
00:57:27
I'm Rick Sanchez thanks so much for
listening today and be sure to join us next
00:57:32
week for another press
conference USA. America.
00:58:10
From long goodness is real.
00:58:18
I'm Steve Norman reporting President drums
former campaign German Paul man of world
00:58:23
has been sent to jail that story
now from a war in Lebanon
00:58:28
a federal judge in Washington revoked Paul
Amana forts bail and ordered him jailed
00:58:32
pending trial the former truck campaign
chairman is accused of money laundering and
00:58:36
making false statements he'd been free on
$10000000.00 bond but prosecutors working
00:58:41
for special counsel
Robert Muller charged man
00:58:44
a fort attempted to influence the
testimony of 2 government witnesses
00:58:48
a superseding indictment alleges man
00:58:49
a Ford and an associate tried to persuade
the witnesses to say he never lobbied in
00:58:53
the U.S.
00:58:54
On behalf of the ousted Ukrainian president
Viktor Yushchenko which metaphor trial
00:58:58
is scheduled for September I'm warning
Levinson President Trump says the Justice
00:59:02
Department's inspector general's report on
the e-mail probe of former secretary of
00:59:08
state and presidential candidate Hillary
Clinton reached the wrong conclusion when
00:59:12
it determined there was no bias in the
agency's handling of the investigation
00:59:17
reports says then F.B.I.
00:59:18
Director James Comey had missteps leading
the investigation of Clinton and that it
00:59:24
damaged the F.B.I. His credibility
president continues to try to.
00:00:00
Parents right now they are
separated this is V.O.A.
00:00:05
News Muslims around the world are celebrating
it all fit or the holiday that marks
00:00:11
the end of the Ramadan holy month the
holiday is the culmination of the Ramadan
00:00:17
season when devout Muslims fast from
sunrise to sunset for the whole month oh
00:00:23
oh I. Found the people gathered angas
the near the border with Israel for
00:00:30
prayer on the 1st day of the evolved fitter
festival in Afghanistan President Asra
00:00:37
Ghani touted
00:00:38
a 3 day ceasefire with the tali Bonn and
an address to the nation to mark the
00:00:43
holiday the ceasefire last through
Sunday however Ghani appealed for
00:00:48
a lengthier ceasefire in called again for
the Taliban to come to the negotiating
00:00:53
table president Gandhi on Friday also
telephone leaders in neighboring Pakistan to
00:00:58
confirm that
00:00:59
a drone attack by the US This past week
and an eastern Afghan border region had
00:01:05
killed the leader of the outlawed
Pakistan Tali Mon The confirmation came
00:01:09
a day after a US official speaking on
condition of anonymity told V.O.A.
00:01:14
The drone strike eliminated moola Boston
law. The trumpet ministration has
00:01:20
announced
00:01:20
a 25 percent tariff on up to $50000000000.00
worth of Chinese imports into the U.S.
00:01:27
And China has retaliated with $50000000000.00
in its own tariffs A.P.'s Mike
00:01:33
Hampton reports P N C Financial
Services Group senior account I'm
00:01:38
a spot Adams says this is not
00:01:40
a trade war but trade friction between the
world's 2 largest economies the risk of
00:01:45
a trade war is probably still low although
the impact would be large Adam says
00:01:50
financial markets which were rattled when
China announced its retaliation will
00:01:55
continue to be up and down it creates
00:01:58
a little more uncertainty for financial
markets President Trump has vowed to crack
00:02:03
down on what he believes are China's
unfair trade practices and efforts to
00:02:07
undermine U.S. Technology and entail
actual property my camp in Washington U.S.
00:02:13
Astronaut Peggy Whitson who has spent more
time in space than any other American
00:02:18
retired on Friday during her career she
logged 665 days in space over 3 separate
00:02:24
missions president trouble
honored her accomplishment in
00:02:27
a parole last year Dr Watson I just
congratulations amazing what an amazing
00:02:34
thing that you've done everybody here I
know your family but everybody here is
00:02:39
incredibly proud of of the record you just
broke I hope that every young American
00:02:42
watching today finds in your example
00:02:45
a reason to love space and think about space
because many great things are going to
00:02:49
come out tremendous discoveries in
medicine and so many other fields that as
00:02:54
President Trump and I'm Steve
Norman in Washington. That's the
00:03:01
latest world news from B O A.
00:03:09
From Washington V.O.A.
00:03:11
Presents issues in the news. On the
panel this week Michael Williams C.B.S.
00:03:18
Re. Audio contributor in Washington and
Tracy Wilkinson staff writer for The Los
00:03:22
Angeles Times our moderator is the White
House correspondent for West Wing reports
00:03:27
Paul Brandeis Hello thank you for joining
us and here are the issues history in
00:03:34
Singapore where President Donald Trump
and North Korean leader Kim Jong what
00:03:40
resulted in what happens next in the
United States the fight over immigration
00:03:46
continues and there has been another round
of political primaries here what do the
00:03:52
results suggest about both the big November
midterm elections and the political
00:03:57
outlook for President Trump
himself and finally and on
00:04:02
a sad note we'll pay tribute to
00:04:04
a longtime panelist on this program our
dear friend or in Doral We regret to
00:04:10
announce that or and has passed away and
we're going to dedicate this program to
00:04:14
him in fact so let's start
with the week's big story
00:04:19
a giant story in fact President Trump and
North Korea's Kim Jong un meeting in
00:04:24
Singapore just these images of these
2 men shaking hands just absolutely
00:04:30
stunning no sitting president Tracy
has ever met any leader of North
00:04:37
Korea but what actually came of their meeting
Yes that's correct those images were
00:04:42
startling the flags the North Korean
flag on the same level with the U.S.
00:04:46
Flag no previous president
sitting president has met with
00:04:50
a North Korean leader they've refused to
generally I mean North Korea has wanted
00:04:54
this for
00:04:54
a long time past American presidents felt
like it would be rewarding that government
00:05:00
to sit down with
00:05:02
a leader before there were you know serious
steps towards controlling the nuclear
00:05:07
program but trying to decided to go the
other way President Trump and what came of
00:05:12
it in the end after all of the fanfare was
00:05:15
a pretty. Limited and vague
agreement for points in which
00:05:22
they rehash the same goals that
have been at the center of previous
00:05:29
agreements between the United States or
the West and North Korea and that have
00:05:33
ultimately collapsed every time the Americans
say that the North Koreans routinely
00:05:38
cheat on these agreements and so there are
00:05:41
a lot of doubts about how far this one
will go it states that they will agree on
00:05:47
forming a new relationship
between the 2 countries
00:05:50
a lasting and stable peace on the peninsula
which I think alludes to the fact that
00:05:56
you know formally the United States and
North Korea are still at war and North
00:06:01
Korea commits to what they called in the
document A complete the nuclearization
00:06:05
omitting the standard mantra
really of the United States
00:06:09
a verifiable and irreversible denuclearization
secretive state Pompei all insists
00:06:15
that is part of the understanding but the
words are not there and then finally
00:06:19
repatriation of remains of American soldiers
who were killed in the war which again
00:06:24
is
00:06:24
a program that has gone off and on for decades
and the next step is Pompei always going
00:06:30
to have to do
00:06:30
a lot of hard work for weeks and months and
perhaps years to get some details meat
00:06:37
on the bones as everyone says to to get
actual steps of how North Korea will 1st of
00:06:44
all acknowledge what it has in terms of
its arsenal and then open up to invest to
00:06:50
inspectors start dismantling and then how
that will be verified over the years if
00:06:55
indeed the negotiations go as as the United
States wants them to you know Michael
00:07:02
Tracey Briggs up
00:07:02
a good point that these North Koreans have
made promises like this in the past of
00:07:08
going back to at the 1992 or so have
never kept their word the question is
00:07:14
why should we believe them now there's
no there. To that question there is
00:07:19
a obviously
00:07:20
a confidence that President Trump has in
his ability to cajole coerce maybe even
00:07:27
seduce some of these these leaders on the
world stage and let the promises that
00:07:32
came out of his as you said are very vague
more akin to something that comes out of
00:07:36
maybe sort of couples therapy then you
know an international international summit
00:07:40
it's like you know I agree to listen I agree
to talk and be better it's there's not
00:07:45
very much meat on the bones as you allude
to so yes given the past track record we
00:07:49
can probably predict that there will be at
least some twists and turns and probably
00:07:53
some backtracking on some of the expectations
that aren't specifically put down on
00:07:59
a piece of paper that you have my camp
00:08:01
a right now is the CIA director you also
have John Bolton who's behind this the
00:08:04
secretary of state sector former CIA director
former CIA director sees me you have
00:08:10
a team of people who isn't necessarily on
the same page and even during this summit
00:08:14
you had President Trump putting things on
the table that have never been put on the
00:08:17
table even in talking about these types
of negotiations in terms of pulling back
00:08:21
from military exercises this was
00:08:23
a surprise to the South Koreans and even
to the American delegation nobody knew
00:08:28
that he was going to say that so the
unpredictable nature of the Trump
00:08:31
administration makes it all the more likely
that something is going to happen that
00:08:37
that pulls the North Koreans back from any
commitment that they've made so kind of
00:08:41
a cavalier approach short of vague results
from this you know you're going to have
00:08:48
yet no what's interesting about the the
halting of the military at exercises is
00:08:53
that Trump use words that are used by the
North Koreans to describe those exercises
00:08:59
provocative war games you know that is the
lexicon of North Korea and China and so
00:09:04
there's
00:09:04
a lot of suspicion that maybe this was
planted by the Chinese this idea it was
00:09:11
stunning as you say to even to to
00:09:14
a lot of the Pentagon was surprised by this
I think Trump and his supporters. Would
00:09:18
say you know explaining how vague this
initial agreement is we'll say well it's
00:09:23
just the beginning you know there's
a long process which is fine
00:09:26
a good point but then you don't declare
that the North Korean nuclear threat is
00:09:30
over as President Trump has also done well
you can't declare that it's over either
00:09:35
because the in this was sort of where these
comparisons with the Iran deal that he
00:09:41
walked away from come in at least
with Iran they agreed to reduce
00:09:47
their uranium enrichment by something like
98 percent and keep it at levels well
00:09:53
below bomb grade I don't want to get into
the technical weeds here but also they
00:09:57
agreed to stop producing plutonium I mean
really hard core things like that there's
00:10:02
been no talk of anything like this with
these North Koreans right so we're
00:10:06
a long way from what Trump calls
00:10:09
a denuclearization Yeah and key
difference is Iran actually didn't have
00:10:13
a nuclear bomb or nuclear warheads and
it's estimated that Kim probably has up to
00:10:18
60 so it's
00:10:19
a huge huge difference and on this one
thing let me ask you both this this even
00:10:24
term denuclearization means different
things to different people I think this is
00:10:30
really important thing that people
aren't focusing on too when we say did
00:10:36
nuclearization from the American standpoint
we mean North Korea is going to get rid
00:10:41
of their nuclear weapons that's not what
it means in North Korea right in North
00:10:46
Korea it means ending our nuclear guarantees
security guarantees of South Korea
00:10:52
right we can't even agree on what the
term means so how do you come up with
00:10:56
a deal when you can't even agree on what
the basic terms Well you talk it out and
00:11:01
this is where it extended diplomacy comes
that there needs to be an extended round
00:11:05
of talk after talk after talk and kneeling
down these types of points these are and
00:11:10
you say you don't want to get into the
weeds but this is what it has to happen
00:11:13
there are many many weeds it's
00:11:14
a field of weeds out there between where
we stand now and what anybody calls did.
00:11:18
Clear is ation So having competent
people that are willing to do this over
00:11:23
a long period of time is essential we don't
know who those people are we don't know
00:11:26
who the P.R.C.
00:11:28
On the other side who the contact point on
the North Korean side who is that person
00:11:32
are they of it's the same mind as the
people that we have on our side beginning
00:11:36
with Mike Pompei Oh it's
00:11:37
a very good question what is denuclearization
The other thing that helped me
00:11:42
understand this Tracy is that there was
it's not just nuclear weapons that they
00:11:47
have it's believed that they
also have this very robust
00:11:50
a chemical weapons capacity a
biological weapons capacity and
00:11:55
a kind of connect the dots here having
some of their chemical weapons wound up in
00:11:59
the hands of Bashar al Assad in Syria no
talk about their chemical and biological
00:12:05
weapons which are clear and present
danger is well thought to have quite an
00:12:09
extensive chemical and biological weapons
arsenal which is again why the key you
00:12:16
know building foundation in all of this
is for North Korea to declare what it has
00:12:22
because the West does not know we do not
know all that he has and not only has have
00:12:27
from these weapons shown up in Syria you
know he's used nerve agents to kill his
00:12:32
brother in law his half brother sorry in
in Malaysia so here port at the airport so
00:12:37
yes this stuff has shown up in many places
and we're not even beginning to talk
00:12:42
about human rights and his his use of weapons
on his own people his own families so
00:12:48
there's a lot there yet the difference
one difference is perhaps that this is
00:12:53
a new younger leader who is interested
he's pretty confident now he's got
00:12:57
a nuclear arsenal he can now look to other
improvements in his country's economy
00:13:03
he's certainly gotten the international
recognition he was hoping for it's no can
00:13:07
no longer talk about an isolated remote
unknown regime I mean this is now. In his
00:13:14
eyes and I think he's got you
know reason to think this is
00:13:16
a recognized nuclear
power. Well that alone was
00:13:19
a huge concession is that fair to say yes
huge concession from the president make
00:13:24
again what What lesson does this really
give to people on the world stage if you're
00:13:28
trying to get countries
not to start and complete
00:13:31
a nuclear program what it does it's
00:13:32
a big advertisements for he of starting in
creating. A nuclear program this is how
00:13:38
you get into the club and that's was the
the whole point part and parcel aside from
00:13:44
his own internal security for this regime
for is to be on that stage you know that
00:13:50
if you are a nuclear player you get to
00:13:52
a certain point and that's just been
justified by this got now F.D.R.
00:13:56
Once said and I love this quote he said
that about Yalta it is permitted in time of
00:14:00
green danger grave danger to walk with the
devil until you've crossed the bridge
00:14:05
and there's another one says He who
dined with the devil had better have
00:14:09
a long spoon and I think that President
Trump would be well advised to think about
00:14:15
those things I know that he likes to get
into these relationships with what would
00:14:20
everyone would say are sort of dodgy
characters and he feels that he can hold his
00:14:24
own with them that he has a way to build
00:14:26
a personal rapport with these
people but I think that there's
00:14:29
a difference between an understanding of
money and deal making an understanding of
00:14:33
power and influence of these people are
very very practiced in the art of power and
00:14:38
influence and I hope that we have the people
advising the president who understand
00:14:42
the mindset of these debts Bartok
leaders and allow us not to end up in
00:14:47
a situation where you're worse off than
when you started but you just sum up here
00:14:50
before we go on with they still have their
nuclear weapons and Secretary of State
00:14:55
pump AOE says it's his goal that they can
get rid of these Dorthy Korean weapons
00:15:01
in what 2 and a half years so in
other words it's all very vegged got
00:15:05
a long way to go
00:15:06
a long way to go I guess the most positive
thing we can say is that we are we have
00:15:11
stepped back from what many thought was
the brink of war with the inflamed
00:15:15
inflammatory rhetoric coming from both Kim
enter. And we have backed off of that so
00:15:20
I think there is less of a of
00:15:22
a threat of war right now all that that an
intern of itself I think is some amount
00:15:27
of progress well let's pause for
00:15:29
a short break here more
issues in the news in just
00:15:31
a moment. You're listening to issues
in the news on The Voice of America in
00:15:36
Washington if you would like to download
the program from i Tunes It's free just
00:15:41
click on the i Tunes tab
on our website at V.O.A.
00:15:43
News dot com And don't forget to like us
on Facebook current affairs with Carol
00:15:49
Katz D.L. Now back to our
panel Michael Williams C.B.S.
00:15:53
Radio contributor in Washington and Tracy
Wilkinson staff writer for The Los
00:15:58
Angeles Times
00:15:59
a moderator is Paul BRANDIS The White House
correspondent for West Wing reports.
00:16:05
Welcome back one of the biggest issues
here in the United States today is
00:16:10
immigration who can enter this country
members of their family and what do we do
00:16:15
with those who arrive without documentation
in other words so-called illegal
00:16:21
immigrants Michel there's this bill that
is working its way through Congress now
00:16:27
that sort of looks to be
00:16:29
a compromise between the conservative and
the moderate faction of the Republican
00:16:35
Party it would do it it looks like would
make pretty sweeping changes to our
00:16:40
immigration system tells briefly what what
is in the bill and what would it do for
00:16:46
immigrants trying to come here well life
or to deal with the dreamers the ideology
00:16:51
of the Trump administration blocking
all immigration at this point who are
00:16:55
basically against any
immigration at all it's
00:16:57
a Phil even legal even illegal
immigration and this is
00:17:00
a philosophical point that got President
Trump elected let's make no bones about it
00:17:03
this is
00:17:04
a feeling that goes throughout the country
so it's about making an established set
00:17:08
of rules that is fair and open and honest
and allows immigration to happen in the
00:17:13
spirit of the American promise allowing
people to come across the border in
00:17:17
reasonable numb. And we have
00:17:19
a situation now where we have the trump
administration and Jeff Sessions say that
00:17:24
issues like gang violence and issues like
domestic abuse which were previously
00:17:29
grounds for asylum in the United States
these are no longer grounds according to
00:17:33
a ruling that was made in addition to
having those rulings that he's also
00:17:40
invoking the Bible as
00:17:42
a reason for taking young children away
from their mother separating family
00:17:46
families aside from the moral issues it
creates tremendous logistical problem in
00:17:50
the sense that in each one of these families
are separated it creates an individual
00:17:55
case sometimes for parents and children
sometimes for each individual parent and
00:17:59
each individual child it's a completely
just go nightmare and in addition to being
00:18:05
a moral I think a moral outrage was
going to bring that up in just
00:18:08
a minute but let's just let's talk
about this issue Tracey of it's
00:18:13
a big controversy here where federal agents
all along our border with Mexico people
00:18:20
who are trying to commit to the country
without documentation these agents are now
00:18:24
taking children sometimes as young
as one year old 52 weeks old
00:18:31
taking them away from their mothers and
fathers putting them in an entirely
00:18:36
different location now the White House says
well we're just in forcing the law but
00:18:41
this actually isn't the Law No it's not
the law on and at one point I believe
00:18:46
President Trump tried to say well it's the
Democrats who created this which is just
00:18:50
not at all the case this is the result
of the trumpet ministration 0 tolerance
00:18:55
so-called policy and yes some of these
children are toddlers reportedly hundreds
00:19:01
have been they've lost
track of them we've seen
00:19:03
a ports of parents being deported and sent
back to usually Central America without
00:19:09
their children and they have to work to
find their children to be to be reunited
00:19:13
with them so I can only imagine the the
trauma of that this is one for. Each year
00:19:18
that has unusually united some
conservatives and liberals Democrats and
00:19:25
Republicans there's not
00:19:26
a lot of support for tearing children
from their parents and even some of the
00:19:30
convicted conservative evangelical groups
Catholic groups have come out against
00:19:35
this and I think that is what is going to
finally get the administration to maybe
00:19:40
back down
00:19:41
a little bit on this this is this compromise
bill that you mentioned is one way to
00:19:45
do away with that aspect but the bill
also includes massive funding for
00:19:50
a border wall which most experts on the
border don't think will have much of an
00:19:55
impact on security yet you know Trump
campaigned on it and and just the general
00:20:00
effort to reduce all immigration
which I think a lot of
00:20:04
a lot of Democrats and some others have
have trouble with and the other issue about
00:20:09
immigration by the way to kind
of go off a little bit of
00:20:11
a tangent here is that we have huge labor
shortages in this country and yet you
00:20:16
have the administration trying to crack
down even on legal immigrants sometimes
00:20:21
it's hard to connect the dots on
some of these things if we had
00:20:23
a reasonable governing center you know in
our legislative body you would be able to
00:20:27
look at this as a policy issue and come
to reasonable conclusions about not only
00:20:32
a immigration policy but about guest worker
policies this is an issue in terms of
00:20:37
labor it's
00:20:38
a huge issue for business and foreign
national economy everyone knows that this
00:20:43
this labor force is very much needed but
because it's become an ideological issue
00:20:48
you can't get to reasonable solutions it's
there's much more political capital to
00:20:53
be gained from confrontation with the
opposing party than compromise with the
00:20:57
opposing party because some of these
problems simply aren't being solved that we
00:21:01
just continue to talk and argue and are
hiding out in torn areas and they just were
00:21:05
not getting these problems solved well
let's move on here this week there was
00:21:09
a big round of primaries here in the
United States now for our global listeners
00:21:15
political primaries when voters pick the.
Candidates that will appear on the ballot
00:21:20
in November for races like governors and
senators in the House of Representatives
00:21:26
it's sort of like kind of
00:21:27
a weeding out process some of the night who
wants to go 1st here sort of elections
00:21:34
all over the country Michel.
Right or that well I see it as
00:21:41
in these primaries on the
Republican side it's
00:21:43
a test of the power of Trump ism you have
00:21:45
a president who's running somewhere between
70 and 80 percent popularity in his own
00:21:49
party based on which poll you want to
listen to and I'm sure in the White House
00:21:52
it's the 80 percent side so they're there
that if you are going to run as an
00:21:58
incumbent you have to not run on your
voting record it's got not good enough you
00:22:02
have to run on your loyalty and fealty to
the president of the United States and if
00:22:07
you do not display that you will be blowtorch
by his Twitter account and you have
00:22:12
the possibility of losing so that's what
happens on the Republican side on the
00:22:17
Democratic side you have this sort
of referendum that's going on
00:22:21
a Democratic Party between standard Democratic
ideology in terms of policy and the
00:22:26
new progressivism that was ushered in by
Bernie Sanders So that's what's going on
00:22:30
in the 2 party primaries because as you
said each one has their own side and then
00:22:34
those 2 will meet in November the elections
that we got were fascinating but the
00:22:38
winners that we got nothing to tell you
00:22:40
a lot about what is going to happen in
November Tracy did November is still about 5
00:22:45
and a half months off from where we are is
00:22:47
a too early to say what this means about
November how are things looking for each
00:22:52
party in your view in the current political
climate I think yes I think it is too
00:22:57
early because things are changing back and
forth all the time but I think Democrats
00:23:02
who thought they were going to have
an easy time are starting to be
00:23:05
a little more. Chagrined and
are going to have to work
00:23:10
a little harder I do
think you know there was
00:23:13
a lot of talk about this shows that you
can't criticize Trump you'll get lost you
00:23:17
know you'll you'll be forced into into
00:23:19
a loss However let's remember these are the
primaries and traditionally even before
00:23:24
these days primaries tend to go to the
extremes on either party as Michael was
00:23:30
saying and so I think we have
to you know take this with
00:23:33
a grain of salt about what it does tell us
and I think you're still. Well there are
00:23:37
many months yet to to to find out all
right well finally we want to take
00:23:42
a moment to remember
00:23:44
a long time panelist here on
ISSUES in the news or in Doral was
00:23:49
a long time foreign affairs correspondent
for USA Today which is one of the biggest
00:23:54
newspapers here in the United States and
we regret to inform you that Oren has
00:24:01
passed away he was 53 years old he leaves
behind his loving wife Virginia Jenny now
00:24:07
at Doral they had 2 sons Malcolm who was
12 years old and Leo who was 11 years old
00:24:14
Michel you know his wife
said that or it became
00:24:17
a journalist because it made
him feel like he was making
00:24:20
a difference in the world you
knew him pretty well he did make
00:24:24
a difference to me he did make
00:24:25
a difference in the world and he came to
journalism later in life he wasn't like
00:24:29
a cub reporter or anything like that and
I think that the fact that he came to it
00:24:32
as a fully grown man gave him a unique
sense. This is hard it really gave him
00:24:38
a sense of wisdom and calm perspective
that was very unique to his style I never
00:24:44
heard him raise his voice very considered
man he was always interested in the story
00:24:50
he had that natural intellectual curiosity
that every good reporter needs but he
00:24:54
was only interested in the story he was
interested in your story and I think that's
00:24:58
what got him to be so close to the people
he needed to get to to get to the truth
00:25:03
of the matter and also what made him so
easy to connect with so many people he was
00:25:07
interested in you and I
don't think I ever had
00:25:09
a conversation with him the did and with
what we got to get together soon I think
00:25:13
every single conversation I ever
had with him was like that he was
00:25:16
a great journalist a great husband and
father and just a lovely man and just
00:25:22
a general sense trace you know this curiosity
that we all have as journalists were
00:25:27
storytellers we like to go to places that
are sometimes war zones who are disaster
00:25:33
zones to tough on pleasant places. And
tell stories and boy he was really he was
00:25:40
really good at that yes telling stories
telling you know speaking truth to power
00:25:46
which is one of the main things we as
journalists do I think Warren was very good
00:25:51
at that at you know fact checking the
powers that be he would come to the State
00:25:58
Department and you know you wouldn't ask
00:25:59
a question every time as many do but he
would ask smart questions you know really
00:26:05
smart questions when I
would which I rarely do as
00:26:08
a CIO I should ask that you know is that
was that was that good that he would have
00:26:11
really thought out and and yeah and as
Michael said you know he came to journalism
00:26:17
late and I remember that I think his wife
said he really felt like he was finally
00:26:21
in his element and loved what he was doing
now can I just get one thing before Joe
00:26:26
. Audience is my favorite poet and
he wrote a farewell to that B.B.S.
00:26:32
And I just like to share
00:26:33
a part of that poem if I may because we
talk about loss and we talk about death and
00:26:38
tragedy so much on the show but when it
hits home personally it really gives you an
00:26:42
opportunity to feel something and I just
the maybe the stanza can help describe
00:26:46
what we're all feeling in this room but
in the importance and noise of tomorrow
00:26:51
when the brokers are roaring like beasts
on the floor of the Bourse and the poor
00:26:56
have the sufferings to which they are
fairly accustom and each in the cell of
00:27:00
himself is almost convinced of his freedom
00:27:03
a few 1000 will think of
this day as one thinks of
00:27:06
a day when one did something slightly
unusual what instruments we have agree the
00:27:13
day of his death was
00:27:14
a dark cold day I will miss or
interim well as we all will and
00:27:21
he really did make
00:27:22
a difference and would like to extend our
deepest condolences to his wonderful
00:27:28
family he will be missed he's one of those
people who is just irreplaceable I think
00:27:34
we're going to have to end it right there.
Thanks to Tracy Wilkinson of the Los
00:27:39
Angeles Times and Michael
Williams of C.B.S.
00:27:42
News This program was produced by the Voice
of America current affairs air engineer
00:27:48
Justin Thwaites and Brandis have West
Wing Reports thank you for joining us.
00:28:07
From V.O.A.
00:28:09
Science edition of Press
Conference USA here's your host.
00:28:16
Welcome to the science edition of Press
Conference USA on The Voice of America
00:28:21
volcanoes have played
00:28:22
a dominant role in helping shape or
Earth since the world was thought to
00:28:26
a form some 4500000000 years ago violent
volcanic eruptions in the Central American
00:28:32
country of Guatemala and Hawaii's big
island have been grabbing news headlines in
00:28:37
recent weeks the recent eruptions of
Guatemala's volcano have so far taken over 100
00:28:44
lives and left thousands more homeless
00:28:47
a wise killer whale volcano also continues
to wreak devastation and threaten lives
00:28:52
since
00:28:52
a series of violent eruptions began back
in early May according to the Smithsonian
00:28:57
global vulcanism program so far this year
there have been 50 confirmed eruptions
00:29:03
from 49 different volcanoes throughout the
world media reports in recent years have
00:29:08
also spotlighted the possibility of
potentially apocalyptic eruptions of what are
00:29:13
called super volcanoes
00:29:15
a recent study led by researchers at the
University of Illinois at Obama champagne
00:29:20
provide some comfort suggesting
that geological signs indicating
00:29:24
a potentially catastrophic volcanic eruption
would be clear far in advance so today
00:29:30
on this science edition of Press Conference
USA We'll talk about one of the most
00:29:34
destructive forces of nature. Volcano's my
guest for today's program is Dr Charles
00:29:40
Mandeville Ph D.
00:29:42
He's the program coordinator of the
volcano Hazards Program at the U.S.
00:29:47
Geological Survey Dr Mandeville were
are the most active volcanoes on earth
00:29:52
typically the most active volcanoes on
earth for it are going to be around the
00:29:56
Pacific Ring of Fire there's about $1550.00
volcanoes above sea level worldwide
00:30:03
and $955.00 of those are along the Pacific
Rim either in the end leaders and
00:30:10
Central America the northwestern portion
of the United States over to Alaska and
00:30:17
the Aleutian Islands and then over to come
talkin Peninsula and Russia and then the
00:30:22
cure I'll Islands and then the Japanese
island chain and then on into the
00:30:28
Philippines and then on into the Commonwealth
or the Northern Mariana Islands and
00:30:33
then Tonga Kermadec down there New Zealand
we've got at least just in the Pacific
00:30:39
Rim we've got over half of the world back
to volcanoes the others are going to be
00:30:45
in the regions of Italy and Greece
obviously and also the far region of
00:30:52
Africa and the East African rift and then
in the Indian Ocean and then in Indonesia
00:30:58
which has over on the order of about 120
volcano so so if you were to guesstimate
00:31:04
how many active volcanoes exist right now
what would be your guess or what would be
00:31:09
the number that you know 1550 Those are
just the volcanoes above water so long
00:31:16
the world's mid-ocean ridge system see it
literally have problems of volcanoes in
00:31:21
the deep ocean basin that about 2500
meter water depth I'm curious about the
00:31:27
Pacific Ring of Fire Why is that region
more prone to having active volcanoes than
00:31:32
any other places on Earth well pretty much
all along that the. Syphax plate margin
00:31:38
you have the earth recycling some of its
tectonic plates back into the Earth's
00:31:43
mantle and when that happens you're sending
one plate down into the earth's deep
00:31:49
mantle it's
00:31:50
a plate that has altered volcanic rocks in
it that have water bearing minerals that
00:31:56
might contain up to 13 weight percent of
water in them when these water bearing
00:32:01
minerals descend back down into the Earth's
mantle they're actually da hydrating
00:32:07
and decomposing and there fluxing the
Earth's mantle mantle wage that just lies
00:32:14
just above where that plate is going into
the mantle with water and water it's got
00:32:19
a very very interesting property when you
add water to rocks you lower the melting
00:32:25
temperature so it facilitates the melting
of the Earth's mantle and when you melt
00:32:31
the men till you produce basaltic
magma is similar to what's
00:32:35
a rupturing in Hawaii right now that
basalt that magma is hotter and it's less
00:32:41
dense than the surrounding rock so it wants
to rise and it rises and it stages at
00:32:46
various levels in the crust where
it comes to the surface we have
00:32:50
a volcano I'm curious as to what causes
this magma to be produced 1st of all and to
00:32:56
make it so darn hot so as you go down
into the Earth's mantle and actually even
00:33:02
through the earth's crust in
volcanic regions you're dealing with
00:33:06
a gradient That's about 40 degrees
centigrade per kilometer So that's
00:33:10
a lot more like about 70 degrees Fahrenheit
per kilometer so by the time you get
00:33:16
down to the 110 kilometer depth
or relatively 70 mile depth below
00:33:23
the earth's surface it's hot enough to melt
rocks and as I said before when you add
00:33:28
a little bit of water to that mixture from
the that's being liberated from the down
00:33:33
going plate it fits militates melting and.
As we have melt focused underneath the
00:33:39
crust it finds
00:33:40
a way to the surface because it's buoyant
from what you're mentioning there is
00:33:45
a correlation between tectonics and volcanism
very much so so most of the world's
00:33:51
volcanoes that you know are capable of
erupting explosively are what we refer to as
00:33:57
subduction zone volcanoes and these are
places where we're recycling the Earth's
00:34:03
tectonic plates back into the mantle
there's another series of volcanoes though
00:34:08
that don't have anything to do with
recycling of tectonic plates they're fed by
00:34:14
either hot spots in the Earth's deep
mantle such as why or Iceland or
00:34:21
Reunion Island in the Indian
Ocean and Yellowstone is also
00:34:26
a hotspot Well we definitely want
to talk about Yellowstone in
00:34:30
a few minutes when you run down the structure
of a volcano when we're looking at
00:34:34
a volcano Normally we see
00:34:35
a mountain and smoke coming out of
the top of it what makes a volcano
00:34:39
a volcano volcano is any place
on the earth where you have
00:34:43
a vent that he's the middle magnet to the
surface either as lava or as ash and
00:34:49
typically volcanoes come into shapes they
come in the very conical somewhat cement
00:34:56
trickle shape that we're used to if we
look at say Mt Rainier or Mt Hood in
00:35:01
Washington state or Mount Fuji in Japan
and those are alternating sequences of
00:35:08
fragmented told volcanic rocks that you get
from explosive eruptions and also lava
00:35:14
flows that armor those fragments all
rocks and help the volcano be somewhat
00:35:20
resistant to erosion so it's like building
sand castles at the beach you have
00:35:26
explosive eruptions that put eruption
plumes of ash and boulders up into the
00:35:32
atmosphere that material comes down
forms track. Mental deposits that are
00:35:38
concentric Lee located around the vent that
they were dead from and those fragments
00:35:44
old deposits typically can lie at about
$25.00 to $30.00 degrees similar to
00:35:50
building
00:35:50
a sandcastle at the beach with dry sand
and then occasionally the volcano will go
00:35:56
into an alternate mode
of eruption and produce
00:35:59
a lava flows and the lava flows cover
these fragments all rocks and essentially
00:36:05
armor the volcano and make it more resistant
to erosion so what we refer to as
00:36:11
strata volcanoes are typically alternating
layers of lava flows and fragment gold
00:36:18
deposits from explosive
eruption that have built
00:36:21
a cone. Now in the case of the big
island of Hawaii we have what's known as
00:36:27
a shield fall Kaino and shield volcanoes
tend to be very very broad very
00:36:34
very low profile mountains but they're
enormous In other words if you think of the
00:36:39
big island of Hawaii coming out from the
ocean floor at 6 kilometers down and then
00:36:45
extending for another 4.4 kilometers above
sea level it's the biggest mountain on
00:36:51
Earth finally causes a volcano to blast
finally erupt I've seen OK Janelle's were
00:36:58
a volcano is seen smoking in that is like
the stirring up inside that's crater what
00:37:03
finally triggers it to erupt the main thing
is to have any kind of eruption we have
00:37:09
to have
00:37:09
a system that is pressurized at depth and
it's usually gas saturated magma that is
00:37:16
more buoyant than its surroundings that
it's temporarily held in place in some type
00:37:22
of subterranean storage area or magma
chamber but eventually the pressure will
00:37:28
build to
00:37:28
a point where the container breaks and
when the container breaks the magma will
00:37:32
find its way to the surface either as
00:37:35
a lava form. Interruption if for instance
the magma that's erupted allows the gases
00:37:41
to pass through it rather easily although
as you increase the silica content of
00:37:47
a magma it becomes more viscous and it's
much less passive to gas moving through it
00:37:54
in other words and the only way to get the
gas out of the magma is actually for it
00:37:59
to explode you mentioned magma you mentioned
silica there so my next question is
00:38:04
what is the composition of volcanic material
I know you have magma and do you also
00:38:10
have ash rocks things like that one of
the composition of these materials OK So
00:38:16
typically a volcano that's erupting
in Hawaii will be a rock salt like
00:38:21
a lava and that
00:38:23
a lot of A with about say 50
percent to maybe 12 percent iron
00:38:29
oxide maybe 3 or 4 percent
titanium oxide maybe 12 to
00:38:36
14 percent aluminum maybe 6 percent
magnesium oxide and maybe on the order of 2
00:38:43
percent sodium and potassium combined and
then the other thing that these magnets
00:38:49
have within them is dissolved gases
countdowns like sulfur chlorine C O 2
00:38:55
and water when we're talking about the gas
coming out of the volcano How dangerous
00:39:01
is this volcanic gas it can be for instance
in the case of Hawaii we have sulfur
00:39:06
dioxide being emitted You also have C O
2 that is being emitted and literally
00:39:13
at the fissure vents the gases are coming
out at roughly 2100 degrees Fahrenheit so
00:39:20
not only are they poisonous they're at
extremely high temperature so being exposed
00:39:26
to them is not
00:39:27
a good idea since we've made the connection
between volcanic eruption and tectonic
00:39:32
activity in other words to volcanic
eruptions cause earthquakes. Vice versa
00:39:37
earthquakes causing volcanic
eruptions there's been only
00:39:41
a few cases where you can cite large magnitude
earthquake as having possibly driven
00:39:47
a volcano into eruption and by this
I mean like the 1960 eruption of
00:39:53
Cotopaxi volcano it literally had
00:39:56
a magnitude 8 earthquake almost directly
below it summit however one of the
00:40:03
things that has to happen for
00:40:05
a volcanic eruption to occurs whenever you
break rocks in the subsurface to move
00:40:11
magma you're generating
00:40:13
a lot of smaller earthquakes and sends the
magma moves to the surface and if you
00:40:18
have sensitive seismometers
distributed say within
00:40:22
a 15 mile radius of the volcano summit
you'll record all those small magnitude
00:40:28
earthquake so usually smaller than
magnitude 2 but they tell us something is
00:40:33
happening at the subsurface beneath that
volcano and at such an increase in the
00:40:39
number of small magnitude earthquake
spinny so volcano is often a Herald that
00:40:45
a volcanic eruption you know might
be coming in the future let's take
00:40:49
a break now you're listening to the science
edition of Press Conference USA on The
00:40:54
Voice of America I'm your host Rick Panta
Lael Today we're talking about one of the
00:40:59
most destructive forces of
nature volcanoes this is
00:41:03
a reminder of that press conference USA
is available for free download from our
00:41:08
website at V.O.A. News dot com slash P.C.
00:41:11
USA or you can download it from i Tunes We
hope you'll give in touch with us either
00:41:17
through Facebook and Twitter
at Carol Castillo V.O.A.
00:41:20
Or by sending us an old fashioned
email to P.C. USA at V.O.A.
00:41:25
News dot com Now back to our guest
Dr Charles Mandeville Ph D.
00:41:30
He's the program coordinator of the
volcano Hazards Program at the U.S.
00:41:35
Geological Survey. Charles eruptions
predictable Fortunately we've gotten
00:41:41
much better at predicting eruptions for the
simple reason we've gotten much better
00:41:47
at instrumenting volcanoes not just with
seismometers but other instruments like
00:41:52
continuous G.P.S.
00:41:54
Receivers tilt meters that can tell
00:41:57
a change in slope on the volcano with
an amount that's maybe 11000th of
00:42:03
a degree and we also have
00:42:07
a whole new generation of satellites up in
the sky that can tell us when the ground
00:42:11
at
00:42:12
a particular volcano is swelling and it's
literally inflating because the magma chamber
00:42:18
system beneath the volcano is being
pressurized with gas and supply of new magma.
00:42:26
What's really transformed volcano monitoring
in the past 20 years and certainly
00:42:32
within the past 10 is the fact that we
can have multiple real time data streams
00:42:38
coming in on
00:42:39
a volcano from ground based instruments as
well as satellite based instruments such
00:42:45
that we can see eruption precursors those
eruption precursors consist of changes in
00:42:51
gas emission changes in ground water
chemistry if we've been sampling the ground
00:42:57
waters at the volcano on
00:42:59
a regular basis increases in the number of
small magnitude earthquake spin eat the
00:43:05
summit or nearby changes in slope on the
volcano that we can detect with both
00:43:11
continuous G.P.S.
00:43:12
Instruments and killed meters and looking
at satellite imagery for hot pixels in
00:43:19
other words gases are often some of the
1st things released as the magma is
00:43:25
transiting in the crust and the gases
because they've been in contact with the
00:43:30
magma are pretty much at the same temperature
and they will find cracks and zones
00:43:36
of weak. Notice to the surface because
they're the most buoyant and mobile
00:43:40
component that the magma is bringing towards
the surface of the earth so if we look
00:43:46
at satellites that give us infrared
images and we look at infrared data from
00:43:51
satellites at night when there's
00:43:53
a low background we can tell subtle thermal
anomalies associated with where new
00:44:00
hot gases are coming to the surface we're
also fortunate in that many of the
00:44:05
volcanoes and particularly the picturesque
ones in Alaska in the Pacific Northwest
00:44:11
and in the Andes have some of glaciers when
these gases are escaping to the surface
00:44:16
still form new cracks in Summit glaciers
that have opened and typically when you
00:44:22
see the cracks forming in the summit glacier
followed by emission of volcanic gases
00:44:28
that we can measure either from
helicopters or fixed wing aircraft or
00:44:33
a whole new generation of multi gas
sensors we can get a real time change and
00:44:39
a measurement of what the
volcano is doing so there are
00:44:42
a number of precursors
that typically happen at
00:44:46
a volcano before to Rupp's And fortunately
we know where the volcanoes are curious
00:44:52
about the eruption process itself there
are specific steps or stages associated
00:44:57
with a volcanic eruption
sometimes you'll see
00:45:00
a migration of the small magnitude earthquakes
towards the surface but you've got
00:45:05
to have
00:45:05
a dent seismic network to kind of see that
happen before your eyes but we've we've
00:45:11
done it successfully for instance at Mount
St Helens we've seen it at Mt Etna in
00:45:17
Italy and it really depends how much of
00:45:20
a lead time you get depends on how good
you are in ground monitoring instruments
00:45:25
are but typically you'll see changes in
gas emission you'll see increases in
00:45:30
seismicity and it's also that if you've
got digital broadband seismometers very
00:45:36
high sense. Seismometers as part of your
network There's also information carried
00:45:42
in the frequency content of these small
earthquakes that tells us magma is on the
00:45:48
move does a volcano have
00:45:50
a set supply of Magno or is it constantly
being refresh and matted it's probably
00:45:56
more episodic than anything so we are
looking at the past eruptive histories of
00:46:02
volcanoes that we have worldwide
we definitely know it's not
00:46:06
a constant supply of magma that's
being supplied unless it's
00:46:10
a hot spot volcano like Hawaii typically
what we have is periods of augmented
00:46:16
growth and that volcano SR you where
you might have several eruptions over
00:46:21
a course of say
00:46:22
a few 10 cauldrons of years and then it
goes quiet for for another 10000 years
00:46:30
but then it gets really reactivated some
of our older volcanic centers are on the
00:46:36
order of you know
00:46:37
a 1000000 years old there's have only
been active volcanic centers for
00:46:42
a few 100000 years if that's the case
then I know that magma is stored in huge
00:46:48
chambers beneath the volcano itself so what
happens once all the magma is gone the
00:46:54
volcano is done the right thing what
happens to the volcano then and especially
00:46:58
with these now empty chambers underneath
Well typically when you have chambers that
00:47:03
exceed you know when cubic kilometers and
that these kind of classes of volcanoes
00:47:10
have been referred to as super volcanoes
where you're literally within
00:47:15
a matter of weeks come on empty chamber
that's not dollars and cubic kilometers
00:47:22
and what happens is the crust above this
huge chamber system actually subsides
00:47:29
and so they're actually kind of senator
because when you're looking on the
00:47:33
landscape for
00:47:33
a volcano there's none that are obvious.
Since fact what you've formed is
00:47:38
a caldera and typically for instance the
Yellowstone caldera in the 4 corners
00:47:44
region of the US it actually forms
00:47:47
a caldera that rivals the state of Rhode
Island in terms of area so in other words
00:47:52
if you have a caldera that is a few
monger's size that means that there was
00:47:56
a volcano there that once blasted an
awful lot of magma Yes And another good
00:48:02
example is Long Valley Caldera in California
in the eastern portion of the Sierra
00:48:08
Nevada is just east of the Sierra Nevada
as another example is what is now Crater
00:48:14
Lake in Oregon there you had eruption
not too long ago about 7700 years
00:48:21
ago 50 cubic kilometers of magma
not a super rupture and but still
00:48:26
a very large eruption typically putting
ash out to you know 50 kilometers up into
00:48:33
the stratosphere and certainly would
have had global climate impact
00:48:39
because of the amount of sulfur dioxide
gas that was put up into the stratosphere
00:48:45
during that event there's an important
question I need to ask you and that is what
00:48:49
is the volcanic explosive of the
index or V E I It's kind of
00:48:54
a catchall way to rank volcanoes in
volcanic eruptions and terms of the impacts
00:49:01
that they would have and also
their relative size but it's also
00:49:07
a matter of what kind of fragments were
produced during the eruption in other words
00:49:13
what is the proportion of ash that it
produced versus ballistic fragments that
00:49:18
typically settle half
00:49:20
a kilometer from the vent and it's an
overall measure of how big an eruption
00:49:26
was and how intense it was kind of
00:49:29
a dual classification if you will and I
understand it's 0 through $80.00 through
00:49:35
a system. Thinglike crack
a towel 1903 is a 6 M.
00:49:40
Bore you know is 6 or maybe
00:49:43
a 7 things like Yellowstone and
long valley when they erupt where
00:49:50
water at the end of the scale
and we've been hearing
00:49:52
a lot about killer whale volcano in Hawaii
has been in the news what exactly has
00:49:58
been going on there with his song Keno OK
So killer whale has been an eruption and
00:50:04
killer whale is the youngest volcano that
comprises the big island of Hawaii there
00:50:09
are actually 5 different shields volcanoes
that comprise the big island of Hawaii
00:50:15
kill away is the youngest and it forms the
southeastern portion of the island it's
00:50:20
been erupting since 1903 for over 35 years
now what's changed is the fact that
00:50:26
we've had
00:50:27
a change in the eruptive points from which
kill away is erupting until Of late
00:50:33
April killer whale was
00:50:35
a rupturing from Summit crater at Holly
Maumelle and it was also erupting from
00:50:40
a smaller vent down the rift lower in
elevation towards the northeast called who
00:50:47
and what's changed is we've had
catastrophic draining of the lava lake. As
00:50:54
well as drop in the lava lake at Holly Maui
and kill away as summit and movement of
00:51:00
magma from those 2 events down the rift in
the subsurface to where it's emerged and
00:51:07
created new fissure vents down in the
late Lani subdivision and the Lani Garden
00:51:13
District the lower Poona zone and we've
got now as many as 22 fishers that have
00:51:19
been active many of them sourcing lava
flows that have now reached the ocean and
00:51:24
the other thing that we're seeing is
00:51:26
a killer wave summit has
produced ash plumes at ever
00:51:30
a nice day anywhere from 3000 feet
to as high as 30000 feet. May
00:51:37
16th that 4 15 am in the morning Hawaii
Standard Time and that caused the U.S.G.S.
00:51:43
Hawaii volcano observatory to put out of
Volcano Observatory notice for aviation
00:51:49
because whenever you have
00:51:50
a volcanic vent the emitting ash up to 20
and 30000 feet where commercial airlines
00:51:56
fly we have to get word out to the aviation
sector as well as the general populace
00:52:03
and all the emergency responders and land
managers in the vicinity is it because
00:52:09
the ash that's flying up from the volcano
is so fine that it gets into the
00:52:13
equipment of the of the airplanes the Unlike
their engines and so forth yes you can
00:52:18
actually have volcanic ash which is
largely glass volcanic glass particles
00:52:23
typically less than about 2 millimeters
in size actually played out on the jet
00:52:29
engine turbines and cause
jet engine failure and
00:52:33
a similar incident happened for instance
00:52:35
a 1989 during the eruption of
read out in Alaska where. Flight
00:52:42
747 with 230 people aboard inadvertently
flew into the ash plume from readout
00:52:48
volcano and all 4 engines on that 747
failed and then they had to descend
00:52:55
relatively 16000 feet you know
00:52:59
a matter of minutes just to restart the
engines Fortunately they were able to
00:53:04
restart the engines and land the plane
safely at Anchorage but the plane itself
00:53:10
suffered about $80000000.00 worth
of damage and you can imagine it's
00:53:15
a pretty harrowing
experience when you've got
00:53:18
a 747 that's in glide for 16000
feet and you've got 230 people
00:53:25
aboard and other critical flight instruments
like your altimeter and your airspeed
00:53:30
indicator and your car window are being
sand blasted with volcanic cat. I
00:53:37
understand
00:53:37
a new potentially dangerous issue has been
raised regarding those who live near the
00:53:42
volcano something called vog what is
Wagner Howzat produced by term for what is
00:53:49
often referred to as volcanic smog and
it's really the sulfur dioxide gas that's
00:53:55
being gas from the magma as
it comes to the surface has
00:53:59
a lot of A It's combining with moisture
in the atmosphere to form fine sulphuric
00:54:05
acid aerosol particles so it's forming an
acid vapor and the paper particles are
00:54:11
typically sub micron in size so they're
easily breathed into the lungs and this is
00:54:17
an irritant of the it's an irritant
over the lung tissue and so it's
00:54:22
a health hazard for those who might be
downwind of any fish or event that has
00:54:27
opened the other thing is that depending
on the wind direction it can be blown off
00:54:33
island to the adjacent island of Oahu and
Maui so on days when the Kona winds are
00:54:40
blowing it can be blown you know to the
north to the other volcanic islands of
00:54:45
Hawaii truly we're running out of time but
I did want to step into the issue about
00:54:50
super volcanoes we've been hearing an awful
lot about super volcanoes in the media
00:54:55
I know several science
oriented channels of T.V.
00:54:58
Have run specials about super volcanoes and
we mentioned earlier about Yellowstone
00:55:03
what separates a super volcano from just
00:55:06
a regular volcano the fact that they've in
00:55:09
a single eruption erupted on the order of
00:55:12
a 1000 cubic kilometers of material so it's
literally the size of the eruption that
00:55:18
has been sued from you know an event that
may have taken place over several weeks
00:55:23
to
00:55:23
a month so what's the biggest the Russians
so far probably the one from Coba in Sumatra
00:55:31
in Indonesia that happened about 74000
years ago and it put out. On the order of
00:55:37
3000 cubic kilometers of material
it's a matter of fact there's
00:55:42
a constriction in the human genome right
around and where probably there were less
00:55:47
you know humans on the planet in the
aftermath we were talking about Yellowstone
00:55:52
being predicted to erupt how likely is that
to happen and when is that expected to
00:55:58
erupt well in other words the chances
of another super volcano eruption from
00:56:03
Yellowstone happening are
probably about one in
00:56:06
a few 1000000 because it's the last one was
640000 years ago however Yellowstone is
00:56:12
still powered by the heat from magma and
residual magma that still at depth and we
00:56:18
have active hydrothermal vents and geysers
what is more probable at Yellowstone is
00:56:24
that we have actually steam driven explosions
occurred you know as recently as the
00:56:30
19th thirty's as well as the 18 ninety's
where you can have around several of
00:56:35
hydrothermal pools where you've got hot
water coming to the surface you can
00:56:40
actually have an explosion that can throw
out bread box and refrigerator sized
00:56:45
fragments you know a few 100
meters from the vent and in
00:56:49
a park you know that has over a
1000000 visitors per year that is
00:56:54
a concern for us Dr Charles Mandeville
thank you so much for taking time in the
00:56:59
basically telling us just about everything
we want to know about volcanoes thank
00:57:03
you for having me it's been
00:57:05
a pleasure and I'm afraid that's all the
time we have on this science edition of
00:57:09
Press Conference USA My guest for today's
program was Dr Charles Mandeville the
00:57:14
program coordinator of the volcano
Hazards Program at the U.S.
00:57:18
Geological Survey the science edition of
Press Conference USA was produced in the
00:57:24
V.O.A. Broadcast Center in Washington D.C.
00:57:27
I'm Rick Sanchez thanks so much for
listening today and be sure to join us next
00:57:32
week for another press
conference USA. America.
00:58:10
From long goodness is real.
00:58:18
I'm Steve Norman reporting President drums
former campaign German Paul man of world
00:58:23
has been sent to jail that story
now from a war in Lebanon
00:58:28
a federal judge in Washington revoked Paul
Amana forts bail and ordered him jailed
00:58:32
pending trial the former truck campaign
chairman is accused of money laundering and
00:58:36
making false statements he'd been free on
$10000000.00 bond but prosecutors working
00:58:41
for special counsel
Robert Muller charged man
00:58:44
a fort attempted to influence the
testimony of 2 government witnesses
00:58:48
a superseding indictment alleges man
00:58:49
a Ford and an associate tried to persuade
the witnesses to say he never lobbied in
00:58:53
the U.S.
00:58:54
On behalf of the ousted Ukrainian president
Viktor Yushchenko which metaphor trial
00:58:58
is scheduled for September I'm warning
Levinson President Trump says the Justice
00:59:02
Department's inspector general's report on
the e-mail probe of former secretary of
00:59:08
state and presidential candidate Hillary
Clinton reached the wrong conclusion when
00:59:12
it determined there was no bias in the
agency's handling of the investigation
00:59:17
reports says then F.B.I.
00:59:18
Director James Comey had missteps leading
the investigation of Clinton and that it
00:59:24
damaged the F.B.I. His credibility
president continues to try to.
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